A Father's Legacy
by Zacatecas
Summary: The end of days came quick and without warning. Two mages go back in in time to, with any hope, prevent the oncoming destruction. The goal was simple; prepare for when Acnologia would strike. However, as they would soon come to discover, they have indeed arrived in the past, but not where they intended to. And not everyone has a similar ending in mind.
1. The Arrival

**Hey everyone, to those who follow my other stories, I know; I should focus on updating those. I had this story in mind for quite some time, I actually wanted to upload this for quite a while, but I didn't feel like I wrote it to the style that I wanted it to be. Plus, It was mostly really filled with fluff and some smut here and there. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it.**

Lands once bountiful in green, rivers that ran with water as cool and crisp as the touch of snow, wheat fields in which many would go to slumber while feeling the soft breeze brush against their skin, kingdoms erected from stones of the bosom of the earth itself; all of it is now but a distant memory. Soil as black as night, what little water that still flowed ran red. Bones, burning flesh and rotting carcasses littered the ground. Scents of sweet lavender and jasmine are replaced with the stench of decomposing, lifeless vessels. There is little sound save the passing winds and dimming flames. The end of days came, Ishgar lies in ruins, the continent has burned for over seven days and nights, there was no warning. Few survived the beginning, even fewer still draw breath. The end came as many would've predicted, at the hands of the creature known simply as: Acnologia. The beast spared none, left no plot of land unspoiled, it pitied nothing. Amongst the ruins of the once proud kingdom of Fiore, one mage continues their fight against Acnologia, severely wounded and with little time left.

The salmon-haired mage stood amongst the ashen ground, his blood dripped on the dead soil whilst the beast which caused this end hovers above him.

"Why do you continue when all else is gone? Why deny your defeat?" The creature landed in front of the tired mage, its jaw formed what seemed to be a crooked grin. "Go now, to those who you failed." Acnologia collected an excessive amount of power, overkill, for a pest that long overstayed its welcome. All the while, he who remained, last of his kind, perhaps not the sole survivor of his race, is unable to continue. He waits, with a heavy heart, salted rivers streaming down his cheeks, dried blood mixed with fresh, and with a smile; he awaits the end. As he hears the beast cast its spell, he feels the end approach, and with a final exalted breath, he awaits the welcoming silence of the void. The spell is casted; his eyes close as the world is muted.

For a moment, there is silence. But, the mage dared not open his eyes. Was he dead? Was their some form of salvation? Hope has long since been lost; there was no form of optimism left, not in this world. And so, to retain what little was left, if any at all, he kept his eyes shut.

"How long do you plan to keep your eyes shut?"

A voice calls to him. Was he truly dead, did he pass on?

"Open your eyes,"

He hesitates, unwilling to face the faces of those he had failed. However, the voice that calls him is not one of familiarity. Curiosity kept at bay, he keeps his eyes shut.

"I'm not going to tell you again, Natsu." The mage in question, hesitantly, opens his right eye. Once his vision returns, both his eyes open, his pupils dilate as colors once thought lost forever flooded his sight. While night time, the boy could see green. Trees, grass, and even the sounds of nocturnal beasts flooded his senses. But, this was not new to him; he was no stranger to this clearing. He rubbed his eyes thoroughly, to assure that this was no illusion. He dropped to the ground; his hands pressed against the soft grass and hardened soil. The feeling of these long forgotten pleasures, if only for a second, brought a faint smile to the mage's face.

"That's better." The same voice again, glancing around, his eyes caught sight of a nodded figure sitting atop a tree branch, smiling down at him. It waved to him before jumping down to his level. "So it seems the spell worked." It commented, walking ever so casually to the mage.

 _'Spell?'_ The salmon-haired mage scanned his surroundings once more, his nose catches scents of jasmine, thyme, and...a familiar odor. His eyes caught sight of what he least expected to see in his after life; a rotting corpse, though, the sight of said corpse was something else entirely. He approached, slowly, the small corpse now taken by the woodland realm. His right palm was placed against his mouth to keep the scent from further bombarding his senses.

"A shame isn't it?" the hooded figure remarked whilst taking their place at the mage's side. "Poor thing never had a chance, regardless." The more it talked, the more their voice began to sound familiar the dragon slayer. Still, his confusion was more focused on the landscape around him. Where one second he stood amongst the ruins of Ishgar, here he stood in the exact spot where his former guild master discovered him. "But that doesn't matter anymore. The Age of the first Dragneel is over. You failed to defend your world, and now it lies dead, lost to us forevermore." Almost instantly, Natsu's head snapped towards the hooded figure, whose voice was now shifting towards that of a female. Aside from her overly pessimistic comments, he swore her voice was familiar, and yet, he couldn't piece it together. Adding to it, he couldn't identify her by scent with the excess aroma of lavender she emitted. It was then that the words she used 'lost to us' gained his attention. Upon glancing to his dumbfounded face, the unknown chuckled lightly to herself. "Oh, forgive me; it seems I got ahead of myself." She took a few steps ahead of him before turning back to face him.  
"Before you ask, no; you're not dead. Not yet at least, depending on how you decide to treat this second chance." Whilst attempting to not give too much information, the unknown could see the confusion in this mage's eyes before further clarifying. "Putting it as simple as I can; using my magic, I attempted to send us back to an earlier period, before the end of days came; with the hopes of delaying the state of the world we left behind. But it would appear that I might've done a bit more than that." The tone in her voice almost shifted to a somewhat joyful level, almost as if she had accomplished something of great marvel. Though, the prospect of going back in time to prevent the ending was something that sparked great interest in the mage.

"You sent us back…in time?" he asked, the feeling of hope rising. The idea of seeing his old friends again, alive and well, nearly brought tears to his eyes. But that left the question; how was that even possible? The only person he could think of that could actually manipulate time was presumed dead. Wasn't she?

The hooded woman clarified. "Yes and no. Granted, we are in the intended timeline, but not the one we belong to." Again, seeing the confusion on his face, she smirked and continued. "I'm afraid that is all I can say at the moment." The woman reached into her cloak and retrieved an item for her confused mage. While unable to see the upper half of her face, her grin was more than uncomfortable for the salmon-haired mage. She handed him what seemed to be a lacrima in the shape of a scale. Hesitantly, Natsu accepted the scale, the emblem being the feature that most caught his eye. Upon seeing the emblem, he was also caught by surprise to see his reflection; he had not changed from his appearance prior to ending up in this situation, with the exception of his wounds healed mind you. His clothing was still partially scorched and torn. His hair was long, almost as unruly as it was when short, only using his scarf as a bandana. He wore a black and gold vest with no shirt, allowing any to gaze upon the collection of scars on his body. Particularly, the most noticeable being the scar reaching from his left eye and along the left side of his neck. White cargo shorts and sandals, perhaps not the best combat attire, but it went with his way of doing things. He'd grown since he'd began to train alone, his height reaching something similar, if not taller than an Iron Dragon Slayer he remembered. His eyes returned to the hooded woman for answers, for more than what she given him.

"I must leave you for now." She turned to the forest, Natsu reached out to keep the woman from leaving, however, was unable to grasp her cloak as she had disappeared almost instantly. "Keep that lacrima, you'll need it soon enough." While out of sight, her voice lingered, clear as day. Without giving him any chance to speak or ask questions, the Dragon Slayer was left alone in the woods. Confused and alone, almost the same as the first time he was left in this forest. What remained in his head was what she said to him; using time magic to send them both to a time before the world's ending. Having no intention of staying put, waiting for the woman to return, Natsu placed the lacrima scale in his pocket and began treading where the moon would set, opposite to where the sun would rise; west.

 **-3 Days Later-**

Following his three days of being sent back in time, the salmon-haired mage had walked continuously, taking in the sights of his kingdom. The urge to run to Fairy Tail and see his guild mates was overwhelming, but there also remained the issue of what point in time he was sent to. At first, it all seemed farfetched; being sent back in time to fix mistakes and errors felt more like works of fiction. Although, considering the circumstances he faced with a certain time mage, it didn't exactly seem so wild of a possibility. However, it was proven quite possible upon his encounter with a few merchants on his first day. After obtaining the exact date from them, he continued his tread, his thoughts focused on his guild. It was July 10th, x777, three days after he and the other Dragon Slayers arrived via the Eclipse Gate. Though, the sight he witnessed the upon his arrival made him fear the worst, considering it wasn't one he was treated to when he was a child arriving in the future.

Stopping only once he had reached the shore, Natsu set camp near a village. By that, meant he had nested himself comfortably against a tree, atop one of its branches. The view from his position allowed him to see the shoreline, and thanks to his enhanced senses, the sounds of the crashing waves would've lulled him to slumber had it not been for a familiar scent on a branch next to his. While he initially intended to not give his guest the time of day, having the scent of lavender accompany his lullaby was a bit nauseating. Yet, he still wanted answers, and this woman was his only way to gain said answers.

"What do you want?" He asked, keeping his tone as far from hostile while maintaining a sense of intimidation.

"Oh, have I angered the Fire Dragon King?" she cooed playfully, slightly irritating the mage.

"You claim to bring me to a specific moment in the past, and then without telling me much; you decide to leave me. I walked for three days, waiting for you. How exactly am I supposed to act?"

"fufufu, patience young king, I merely needed to assure that my assumptions were correct." The sudden rise in temperature forced the woman to refocus her attention from the ocean to the slightly irritated mage. The expression on his face was neutral, though the sudden spike in his release of magic said otherwise. "I presume it is answers you seek?"

"What do you think?" He snarled.

Though his tone did little to intimidate his guest "Oh my, there is no need for violence, I'll tell you whatever is necessary."

"Necessary?" he growled at her amusement of their situation.

"Yes, whatever is necessary for this second chance to receive a better outcome." She returned her gaze to the ocean, while unable to enjoy it the way the Dragon Slayer next to her could, still enjoyed the sight of a body of water not dyed red. "From the start, we were destined to fail against Acnologia; an upfront assault was never going to receive a favorable outcome, regardless if it succeeded. The world was meant to end, we were only meant to delay the inevitable for as long as we could. If that dragon did not do so, then the world would've fallen to E.N.D." Her tone shifted, Natsu clenched his fists, unwilling to accept her pessimism, particularly referring to him as a cause for the world to end, even if he knew the truth in her words. He knew what resided in him, what would occur should he lose control. "It's hard to believe, I understand, but there is hope, young king."

"…and what might that be?" He asked, crossing his arms and refocusing his eyes back to the ocean.

"As I've said before; the Age of the first Dragneel has ended. The time has come for the torch to pass, so to speak." Smirking with a prideful demeanor, she glanced to the mage beside her, only to see a confused expression that slightly irritated her. She pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head gently. "I keep forgetting; subtlety isn't the best approach when speaking to you. Do you still have the lacrima I gave you?"

Without the need for words to be exchanged, Natsu retrieved the scale and displayed it to the hooded woman.

Her smile returned. "That particular lacrima was indeed a difficult one to forge, more so given from who it was forged from." She explained cryptically, again further confusing the salmon-haired mage. "And now, the king must pass on his legacy, as his father once did." She giggled lightly whilst imagining what she had planned for it this Dragon Slayer.

Surprisingly, the expression on the salmon-haired mage's gave the impression that gears where actually clicking; as if he knew what she meant. Though, to further the events, she gestured to the scale in Natsu's hand. "In this world, the title of Fire Dragon King belongs solely to you, but whether or not it is enough to ensure a brighter future depends on your decision to use that lacrima."

"What do you mean 'this world'?" He asked, increasingly confused by her words.

Having further explored the world and testing her theory, the hooded woman grinned as she explained away. "In my haste to return us to the moment you arrived in Fiore, x777, I chanted my spells quickly, lest Acnologia kill us both before having a chance to escape. I made an error, however, and just as I had wanted; we returned in time, but that is not all that occurred."

"Is that why you left?" He asked, surprisingly keeping up with the information thrown at him, though, he appeared to be close to having a mental breaking point.

"Yes, I needed to assure my assumptions were correct; however, I still haven't collected all of the information I need to give you a complete and honest debrief. I need more time to formulate a proper conclusion. For that, I will need you to trust me, young king." The hooded woman glanced back towards him, from where he sat; he could finally see her eyes. Gears finally clicked in place; the identity of this woman was clear, however, what bugged him the most was the reason behind her helping _him_ of all people.

"Why did you choose me?" he asked, wondering why she didn't go for others she could've chosen to enlist in her mission. What began to bother him, ever so slightly, was her referring to him as 'king', despite the fact that she never used it to address him before.

"You'll find out soon enough." Unwilling to accept her answer, Natsu rose from his spot to give her a piece of his mind now that he was certain who she was. That was his intention when the sound of a girl screaming further in the woods caught his attention. His senses allowed him to almost instantly deduce the direction of the sound. As he readied to dive straight towards the ground and sprint towards the sound, the hooded woman retrieved, from somewhere in her cloak, a staff to keep the mage from sprinting into action.

"What are you doing, someone is in trouble?!" he snarled, another scream followed suit. His expression shifted upon catching a whiff of the scent of blood. Without further hesitation, Natsu dove down and sprinted straight towards the sound. All the while the hooded woman watched with a faint grin.

'Always charging without thinking things through? I wonder how this world will treat our arrival. Especially **_them_**.'

Sprinting as fast as she could, a young girl ran through the forest. Chain cuffs weighed down her legs as she continued to run aimlessly into the forest. Blood trickled down the right side of her face as her breathing increased. The sounds of footsteps behind her pressed the little one to run, no matter to where or for how long, so long as she escaped. But fate was none to kind to this one. In her haste, she failed to notice the rocks on the terrain. She tripped, falling roughly against the hardened ground. The pain was excruciating, though, she was quick to rise up and make another run had a hand not caught a firm grasp on a bundle of her hair. The unknown shook her violently, and then slammed her down on the ground in frustration.

"Oi, don't damage her too much, those sages won't pay us if we sell them damaged goods." Another unknown shouted as he and another soon caught up to their comrade. The three huddled around the crying child as the man pinning the girl down unsheathed a dagger. "What did I just say?!"

The girl sobbed as she could feel the man continuously apply pressure on her head, dust and bits of grass stained her sobbing face. "SHUT UP!" The small child, almost instantly stopped, though, her sniffling continued. The tip of the man's dagger pressed against her neck silenced any further sobs. "That's three times you've escaped, the first time; the whip, the second time we broke your legs, but now I'm just too fed up to care about what those sages want with her. How many jewels are we making on this trade?"

"From the rest of the cargo? More than a couple hundred alone." The third slaver answered, to which the first smiled widely.

"Then what does it matter if we rid ourselves of this trouble?" He pressed his dagger against the small one's neck, drawing blood. Blood also flowed from the first slaver's mouth, his attention, although, was focused more on the child that gave him his wound. "Hell, we can auction her off to a higher buyer in Bosco. I'm sure someone from those ports will treat her nice-like."

Although night, the temperature began rising to exponentially suffocating levels. The slavers scanned the area for the source. Though, upon laying eyes on the Fire Dragon Slayer, the sight of said mage frightened the slavers. Not for the mere sudden appearance of a mage, but for the manner in which they were treated to first seeing him. The mage was engulfed in flames, and yet unaffected by them. His sclera were as black as night, pupils a bright shade of amber, and blackened scales forming on both his arms, legs, and face; almost as if giving off the appearance of a hybrid between a race of reptilian origin and a human. Yet, the beast before them gave an immense amount of magic that began to suffocate those around him. As an animal would to beasts invading its territory, the Dragon Slayer positioned himself, as if ready to attack whatever be it in front of him. Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long to send the slavers running, the moment Natsu gave the impression that he would attack; the slavers took off running the direction from which they came.

While having the intention to chase after them, the injured child in front of him was of greater importance. Upon calming himself down and kneeling down to the girl's level, she backed away. It was through the light of the moon that he noticed a few key features the child had; crimson hair and eyes, her hair reached only to her shoulders. She wore rags, torn and weathered. Cuts and bruises were common on her exposes skin; one could only fear what more she carried beneath her rags. Most noticeably was an 'X' burn mark on her left shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?" Given the state she was in, 'alright' was stretching it just a bit, though, he still had to ask. The young one made no attempt to respond, her focus was solely on the beast that suddenly appeared before her and his sudden shift in attitude. As his hand reached for her, she flinched, backing away further.

Natsu then noticed the bleeding wound on her head. Remembering what little he learned from healing magic, and combining it with his own, he engulfed his hand in a white fire. Slowly, as to not further startle the child, he reached for the wounded area. But, she backed away, almost, if not, quicker than before. Her whimpers and rattling chain cuffs grew louder as she made every attempt to keep distance between her and him. "Hey, there's nothing to be scared of, I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise." His words did nothing to persuade the girl as she continued to back away from him. As she was about to get up and run again, she began to sway, her eye lids fighting to stay awake after the adrenaline in her system had died down. Without warning, her body fell backwards; Natsu reacted quickly as he caught the small one before she hit the ground. Using his limited knowledge, he engulfed his free palm in flames and placed it gently against her wound. Taking only a moment, he removed his palm to reveal a closed wound, still stained with dry blood. Having a closer look at the small one, an image from his past flashed before his eyes, almost as if he had seen this child before.

Considering this was the past, or so the hooded woman told him, and taking into account the year, their existed an actually probability that he knew this child, or rather; her future self. But, what were the odds that he'd run into a familiar face so quickly, and if he already met her; who was she?

 **-1 Hour later-**

Lying carefully beside a small fire, an injured girl finds herself awakened by the smell of an appeasing odor that caused her to snap up instantly. Her eyes glanced to the open fire, widening at the sight of the beast that, while saved her from the slavers, still frightened her to a great degree. Though, her fears were almost instantly shadowed by what was placed over the fire; it appeared to be a small animal of some sorts, cooking over the fire. As she attempted to stand, she noticed the beast was lacking his vest. Much to her surprise, glancing downwards; said vest was used as a blanket to keep her body warm. Another thing she noticed were the lack of metal cuffs on her legs or wrists. Her wounds had been tended to; bits and pieces of black and gold clothing were used as bandages, though there was one issue that remained. Before addressing it, the skewered animal that was being cooked over the fire was now being handed to her, fully cooked. She glanced, firstly to the unknown man, then to the piece of food being offered to her. Confused, she remained frozen in position until a grumbling sound broke the awkward silence. The growling startled the older mage, but almost as quickly, his expression shifted. He was now smiling at her while further insisting she take the food in his hand. Feeling embarrassed, but hungry nonetheless, she accepted the slab of food and slowly took small bites. Upon eating the first few bits, she then found herself biting off larger chunks. She continued taking faster and larger bites until she coughed from nearly choking on a larger chunk of meat. She felt a hand patting her gently on her back while the owner of said hand gave her a reassuring smile.

"Relax, eat slowly. No one is going to take it away from you." Without realizing it sooner, the girl finally noticed that the beast was sitting next to her. And yet, she felt no fear, but rather, she felt safe beside him. For some reason, she no longer felt as if she needed to place distance between them. Still, she was not used to this; having someone treat her as kindly as this. As long as she could remember ; her life was and always seemed to be revolving around her limbs bound by steel, and the fear of whether there would be some, if any, food given to her. As she took another bite into her meal, small rivers began to roll down her cheeks. A hand gently wiped away her falling tears while protectively watching over her.

Natsu nearly let went full rage when he heard that slaver go on about what he intended to do to this girl. While initially enraged, he managed to merely scare them off and rescue the girl before anything else transpired. But, there was still something so familiar about her that kept bugging him. Up to the point that he finally asked "If you don't mind me asking; what's your name?"

The girl remained silent for just a few seconds before answering him in a whisper-like voice. "…Flare…" Almost instantly, Natsu's eyes widened; here sitting before him was the child version of a once powerful mage that brought pain to his fellow guild members. But, as it was clear to see, she was not that woman; not yet at least. Regaining his composure, the salmon-haired mage noticed the small one staring at him with small amounts of fear in her eyes; almost as if she felt she had done something wrong. He smiled again and hoped to keep her from feeling down. "That's a beautiful name, it suits you." he remarked with a toothy grin, to which a small tint of pink shone over her unusually pale skin. "My name is Natsu Dragneel. How old are you, Flare?" he asked. The young red-head lowered her head and, for what could be her only way of communicating, whispered her response.

"I don't know…" Fortunately, the mage beside could easily hear her regardless. She then felt a hand pat her head, ruffling her hair ever so gently.

"You too, huh?"

Flare was, for lack of a better word, surprised. What did this stranger mean by 'you too'? Did he honestly not know how old he was? Was he, by chance, similar to her? Or was he simply trying to trick her into trusting him? She didn't know how to feel, though, as she pondered, the mage reached over towards the fire, and stuck his arm into the flames.

"ah..!" the young child was about to scream out but was silenced when she watched the salmon-haired mage remove a chunk of the flame and consume it, his hand unscathed. From where she sat, it was something she would've compared to demonic had she not seen mages manipulate fire before, although, she had never seen a mage consume any sort of flames. It was amazing, though, after remembering seeing him engulfed in flames, she began to wonder if he really was some form of demon. Even so, he wasn't what she expected of a demon, considering the stories she was told. She looked to the mage with curious and small admiration in her eyes. Compared to all the stories she had been told, it would seem that the demon appeared to be more compassionate than her own people.

"Mr. Demon…" Natsu almost flinched with being given that particular title, although, considering how he chose to drive the slavers off, it wouldn't surprise him if rumors would begin to surface of a demon roaming the forests. Although, whereas he expected the little one to refer to him with that title in a fearful state, it was not simply fear in her tone that he could now detect. She averted her gaze, her hands gripping the stick which held small remnants of meat. "T-thank you…for saving me." She whispered again. Feeling his palm atop her head, she glanced to the mage, her eyes directly looking at his.

"I'm glad you're safe, but please don't call me Mr. Demon." His tone wasn't intimidating, rather, it seemed almost friend-like to Flare. "You can call me Natsu, ok?" She nodded, gaining a wider smile from this mage.

Staring from afar, the hooded woman kept a distance while watching the salmon-haired mage interact with the young child he rushed to save. While initially frightening the small one, it seemed that King managed to ease the girl's fears. The woman chuckled to herself upon hearing the girl call the mage a demon in what she probably believed was a respectful manner. It was reassuring to see the little one not openly detest or show hostility towards what she believed to be a demon. The hooded woman dared not approach, for having a shrouded unknown suddenly show itself would probably have the child feeling even more uneasy than she felt at the moment. But, to see Natsu interact with a child, to see him smile was something that was nearly lost in their time, when he had to witness his guild eventually falling; one body at a time. More than before, the hooded woman felt justified in her decision to bring him with her. Especially now that she was made certain; there was no manner in which they could return to their future, to their world. This was their home now, and from the look of it, Natsu seemed to be taking advantage of this opportunity. At least, it seemed that way to the hooded woman. The mage was dense, to a certain degree, but even he would know that this is an opportunity to take advantage of; more time to prepare, and with his level of power, perhaps even enough time to maintain longer control over his other self.

It appeared that, at this moment, rather than allow those he knew as enemies to progress into a hindrance, he began implanting himself into the life of this child as an ally. Though, that left an unnerving thought within her mind. 'How exactly would this change the timeline? And what else was this mage to change in his possible pursuit to succeed where he, and many others before him, failed.

Aside from those pessimistic thoughts, from what she could see; it seemed like the two were engaging in more conversation every passing minute. Or rather, Natsu spoke and the little one listened closely. From the manner in which he moved his arms and the semi-excited expression on the girl's face, it would seem as if he was telling her stories of his past adventures. In a rather amusing twist, his past stories were now, more or less, events of the future. It was amusing to watch, almost an hour ago the child appeared petrified from just looking at him, and now it seemed as if they were progressively bonding. And in an odd moment, it almost looked like the child laughed to one of his stories, though, she kept her palms to her mouth, making difficult to tell. Still, she appeared to smile more, so that amounted to something.

As night progressed, Flare found it hard to keep her eyes open. Noticing the little one drifting off, Natsu removed his scarf, folded it, and placed it down for Flare to use as a pillow. Feeling somewhat embarrassed that he was going out of his way for her; the little one laid her head on the right side of the scarf. Then, shyly, she patted the spot next to her. Chuckling lightly, Natsu used his vest to cover her, and, lay beside her. Much to his surprise, she didn't avert her eyes from him. Rather, it appeared as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the strength to speak up.

"You ok?" he asked, wondering why she suddenly went from drowsy to high alert.

"When I wake up…will you still be here?" Her words pierced the mage deeply. Instinctively, he held her tightly, resting his chin on her head. While initially shocked by the sudden embrace, it wasn't unwelcomed.

"I'll be here for as long as you need me. I won't go anywhere." He reassured. To which she held out her hand.

"Promise?" She asked with hopeful eyes.

Natsu smiled and held her hand. "I promise, Flare." The young red-head, for what seemed like the first time in her life, albeit faintly, smiled. She pressed her head against his chest, unaffected by his scars, and listening to his rhythmic heartbeats. His body expelled an unusual amount of heat, even when having little clothing. The warmth helped put her to ease as she fell slowly to slumber, holding unto his hand.

For a moment, the salmon-haired mage gazed to the sky. He knew by befriending Flare, the timeline he knew was lost to him. Meaning now; anything was possible. This timeline, as it is progressing now, perhaps will have events similar to what occurred in his past. But at this moment, he is wiser; knowing full well that every choice he makes from here on out will determine whether or not he and his hooded friend would be able to prevent the world's ending. But, if this meant that he could fight alongside his old guild mates and save them, he'd happily start all over if it meant a better outcome.

Watching the stars, a memory came to him, or rather, something he made to honor his guild mates, and to help him continue moving forward. In truth, he never enjoyed doing it and he never expected to ever participate in such activities. But to cope with countless losses, he found comfort in words and their mixture in a sorrowful melody. A lament, he'd written for his fallen kin. Out of character if might've felt, considering he was always the one people knew as to never back down or accept defeat. But what many failed to realize was that he was human, and even he had his moments where he did things he normally wouldn't to cope. The melody, the tune, even the words had stuck with him. He had even written them down to assure he would never forget. Rest assured, to him it was another way of honoring his guild's memory. In fact, to those who still drew breath with him during the earlier days of the end, the lament was sung in honor of their family. It was a memory, painful as it was, but still a piece of his family that he dared not part with. Assuring the small one was asleep, he closed his eyes, humming softly to himself; he sang his lament.

 _"_ _Oh mighty eye of my dragon's hold_

 _Keep careful watch of my family's souls_

 _And should these skies fill with fire and smoke_

 _Keep watching over my hatchling's soul_

 _Harken here, my fallen brothers_

 _Guide us ever onward_

 _And if this world burns, my child_

 _Cover not your eyes_

 _Lift your head to the sky_

 _Lest in vain, our brothers die_

 _If our world is to end in fire_

 _I will stand by my brothers_

 _The battlefield, our pyre_

 _On our grave blooms the heathers_

 _And if we should die tonight_

 _Let us die with a smile_

 _Leave not with shoulders_

 _Heavy with sorrow"_

* * *

 **And with that, the first chapter comes to an end.**

 **Before anyone asks, I don't have any set pairings in mind, considering I plan to focus more on the story. There'll be a bit of flirting here and there, but it won't be the focus of the story. And even if I do make a pairing, I'll either make it subtle or I'll dedicate some (little) time to it…or at least I'll try. (Probably)**

 **If this story feels confusing, I ask that you bear with me and wait for more answers to be sprinkled here and there…or all at once, I honestly just want to continue writing this.**

 **If you like this story, I'm glad it catches your interest. If you don't, that's fine; there are thousands of other Fairy Tail stories for you to read besides this one. Regardless, I thank you readers for, at the very least, deciding to read my story. I can't promise when the next chapter will be out, but I do plan to make the story interesting.**

 **P.S. If anyone couldn't tell, the lament I wrote for Natsu is a bit of a reworded version of "I See Fire"… Alright, more than a bit, but in my defense; I wanted it to sound like it actually came from Fairy Tail. So, thanks for reading, stay tuned.**


	2. New Family

Morning comes and awakens the people of Fiore, the sun rising from the east brings with it the stirring of creatures in the wilderness. As two humans slept peacefully within the forest a hooded figure approaches with a large backpack in hand. She placed a bag beside the now extinguished fire, her eyes focused on the child beside the older mage. While the little one seemed peaceful in her slumber, her head nudged comfortably against the salmon-haired mage. The slayer kept a stoic expression, creatures of the woodland realm kept to themselves, never once attempting to approach this Dragon Slayer or the small one in his care. The hooded woman, while having watched these two from afar up until they fell to slumber, worried over what this meant for the timeline considering this little one was never actually supposed to be on a slaver's ship. At least, not that she knew of. Their mere arrival three days prior was not enough to alter the timeline in any major way, though; this only meant the previous assumption made this all the more interesting. Kneeling down, placing her staff gently beside her, she continued to watch the two sleep undisturbed.

 _'I wonder, should I wake them?'_ Unbeknownst to her, a smile formed on her lips as she gently played with his locks of hair. Her actions had him stir ever so slightly. All the while her grin widened, never before did the two have this much physical contact, nor did she care much for it. But after the events following their arrival to this timeline, having a familiar face, a friendly face, made the need for comfort all the more appealing.

At the sound of murmurs, the hooded woman jumped ever so slightly, believing she had awakened the slayer. Though, her mind, and heart, eased as she discovered the source of the sound. The little one stirred for a moment while at the same time nudging closer to the mage. The hooded woman giggled softly, for some reason her hand reached for the little one. No malice or ill intentions were on her mind, although, having no strong trust between herself and the pyro king, before she could lay so much as a finger on a strand of the child's hair her hand was instantly caught by a firm grip. It startled her, though; she did her best to keep a calm demeanor upon turning to the owner of the hand.

Natsu was staring at her while, with a stoic face, giving off an intimidating aura. "Sneaking up on a sleeping dragon isn't the smartest thing to do, more so its hatchling." He mumbled while slowly sitting up, careful as to not wake the little one beside him.

"Fufufu. It wasn't my intention to do any harm to you, or the little one." The hooded woman gestured to the still slumbering child who was holding onto the Slayer's hand with both her palms. She gripped him tightly, more so when he made small attempts to remove his hand from her hold. In the end, Natsu surrendered his hand to the little one until she woke up. "It would appear that she has become enamored with you. Not only have you changed the timeline, but you've also made promises to this little one that you might not be able to keep." The hooded woman commented.

"Normally, I wouldn't need to warn someone about eavesdropping on a dragon. Honestly, I thought you would've known better. But then, where's the fun in life if all you do is avoid danger? Right, Ultear?" Natsu's tone shifted, nothing intimidating yet, but wary nonetheless.

For a moment, the hooded woman kept quiet, only to chuckle softly. She removed her hood, revealing a familiar face that, under normal circumstances, would give the Dragon Slayer a sense of ease. However, there was still the issue of her supposedly being dead that bothered him.

"So you've discovered me, I'm surprised. I had hoped to keep you guessing for a little while longer." She teased. "What tipped you off, if I may ask?"

"I couldn't tell by smell, all of that lavender is nauseating by the way." He shot her a playful glare, only to receive a smack to the back of his head from her staff. She, too, gave him a playful glare. "But I know those eyes; the eyes of someone who's seen everything they've ever loved die in front of them, all the while cursing the fact that you failed and still lived." The atmosphere around them fell drastically; the two remained quiet for a few seconds before the salmon-haired mage chuckled awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck. "And the time magic kind of gave it away."

The two laughed softly, obviously to avoid waking the still sleeping child beside them.

"Well, then I guess using a disguise was pretty much pointless then. I assume you're hungry?" To which the mage's growling stomach was a clear enough answer. The time mage showed visible signs of holding in her laughter while Natsu blushed a light shade of crimson, avoiding her gaze. "Well then, I'll see what I can cook up with the supplies I acquired."

"I don't remember you having that bag before." Natsu pointed out. To which Ultear grinned slyly while retrieving utensils from within the bag.

"Well, once you and the little one fell asleep, I tracked down those slavers and... _'persuaded'_ them to repent for their sins...and I may have taken some provisions from their warehouse, freed any other slaves, and burned their boats. Would you like eggs and sausage?" She asked with an almost innocent smile.

"I'm afraid to ask, but how exactly did you 'persuade' slavers?" Natsu asked nervously, though the response made him pale. Ultear calmly retrieved her staff, lifted it up and slammed it down between the Slayer's legs, missing his manhood by a few inches. Upon looking to her staff, then to her face, she was still smiling innocently.

"So, sausages and eggs?" Without needing to repeat herself, the mage nodded furiously. "Good. Care to give me a hand?" She gestured to fireplace. Natsu made one last attempt to break Flare's hold from him as gently as he could. He succeeded, granted the little one didn't let him go easily. The salmon-haired mage grabbed two stones beside the extinguished fire. He stood up and turned towards the forest.

"I'm going to gather some wood. Watch Flare for me, I'll be back in a bit. Let her sleep. Don't tease or scare her if she wakes up." He warned.

Ultear waved dismissively whilst further rummaging through the bag she 'acquired' from the slavers. She did so quietly, as to not wake the little one. She found a generous amount of jewels stashed into a hidden pocket, a few maps of the surrounding coastline, a pot and pan, along with some utensils, and food she managed to gather before burning down the warehouses. It was rather fun, but there were circumstances that required immediate attention, one such was the fact that the slavers intended to ship their cargo to a tower, familiar to both the time mage and the Dragon Slayer. She and Natsu have the chance to go to the tower and stop whatever was being planned before it proceeded any further. Although, she preferred a more silent approach. Granted, both she and the salmon-haired mage were well above the current power of an individual wizard saint, drawing unwanted attention, particularly from the council, would make their mission all the more difficult. While the idea of going all in and breaking their enemies one by one was appeasing, there still remained the problem of giving their enemies a reason to unite and prepare for them, making their mission all the more difficult. Of course, knowing the fire mage; he'd simply dive into the tower and any other preventable problem in the future if it meant avoiding any pain to his family. "Things will only get more difficult if we act on impulse. So, how can I make you understand that? Do you even understand?"" She thought aloud, caring little if he heard her or not. Though, she soon fell back on her own words when she considered if she should intervene in a massacre her former guild committed. It was one that, while immoral, was what gave her an adoptive daughter that she held dear. Should she do anything against said guild, then Meredy's village would be saved, and in turn she wouldn't be left an orphan. It appeared to be a sound plan, but Ultear couldn't help but feel conflicted over whether to regain her adoptive daughter or not. Perhaps her parents could offer her a better life, a safe life. But then, there also existed the possibility of them being abusive. Right now, anything could happen now. _'I want to have her with me...but I don't want to take her family from her...not again. What do I do? There's nothing wrong with checking in on her once in a while, right?'_ As she battled on how to act, she failed to notice a figure emerging from the forest thickets. Though, she was made quite aware when she felt a sudden gust of wind blow directly against her neck. She yelped with a somewhat high pitch, she turned around almost instantly with her staff at the ready.

"Woah now, let's not get violent." Natsu chuckled nervously, holding both his hands up, regretting his decision to tease the time mage. Though, he couldn't deny how cute her blushing face was.

After receiving an intensely intimidating glare, most of the time they spent preparing their breakfast. What surprised Ultear was Natsu's use of flint to light the fire. Upon taking notice of her unending stare, he asked. "What?"

"Nothing, I just assumed you'd light the wood with your fire."

He turned his gaze back to the small, but growing flames. "I would've, but I don't want to waste my magic on something menial. I can't eat flames made by my magic, so I'm using flint. Plus, I kind of over did it when I scared those slavers off. Right now I'm trying to preserve my magic, so I'm not going to waste it on anything that I can handle with my own two hands...or with some simple spells here and there." The two were silent for a moment before a soft chuckle escaped the loss of the time mage.

"This is a surprise, the Natsu I remember would just charge head-on into a situation, not caring whether he was low on magic or badly injured. Your only intention was to get things done fast. Also, you never really thought things through." Ultear commented, receiving a stoic expression from the salmon-haired mage.

"I probably would've still, if I wasn't forced to adapt. If Acnologia hadn't appeared, then maybe I'd still be the same as before; just a mage going on adventures and living a carefree life. But that's no longer the case." He responded, focusing solely on keeping the fire alive. "Besides, it has its advantages; I'm smarter and stronger than before."

"So it would seem. In that case, since you're smarter now, I take it you won't be intervening in future events?" She asked, retrieving a few ingredients from the bag.

Natsu chuckled a bit, somewhat startling his company. "Honestly, I don't know. I want to, but I know there'll be consequences will be if I do anything too drastic. On that note, if we're going to prepare for the future, we'll need to train ourselves and our allies for whatever the future holds."

"We'll also need to make contingencies." Ultear added. "For any foreseeable and unforeseeable events. What's first on the agenda? Do you have anything you want to start with?"

"I do. I thought about it last night, actually. But, I'll let you after we eat." He responded.

"Speaking of last night, I didn't know you had a good singing voice." She teased, receiving a mild blush from the dragon slayer.

Once breakfast was finished, the salmon-haired mage gently woke the small one, gaining her full attention at the mention of breakfast. She sat close to Natsu, while keeping distance from the unknown woman. When she first awoke, upon seeing Natsu, she smiled, reassured that the night prior wasn't a dream. Though, when seeing Ultear, her smile shifted almost immediately. She stayed beside the dragon slayer for the majority of the time, even when Ultear tried to start up small talk. The child replied by either nodding or shaking her head or she'd reply with short and simple answers. With her awake, it made speaking of preparing for further events all the more difficult. Considering the need for discretion. Though, it didn't stop the dragon slayer from hinting at what his first goal was; to search and recruit certain individuals. At first, the time mage believed her partner to be acting out of impulse if he was thinking of searching for those particular individuals. Although, it did present an opportunity to raise a rather strong resistance against Acnologia, should they start their training as soon as possible. Still, gathering these particular people so early on their lives would present a future that resembles nothing of their timeline.

While the adults spoke, Flare remained quiet. From where she sat, they appeared to be friends, although, they also seemed to have some hostile moments between one another. Along the way, she heard the woman's name; Ultear, and while her glare was indeed frightening, she appeared to be nice. That was, unsurprisingly, proved otherwise when she saw Ultear use her staff to intimidate Natsu on more than one occasion. They were an odd due, considering the salmon-haired mage seemed to joke around when being threatened. The majority of the time, they spoke of planning for some future event. While not speaking of it in detail, she could make out some specifics, a name for example; Acnologia. While the name didn't ring bells of any sorts, the expressions they showed when speaking of it made Flare concerned, considering they showed great disdain just by the mere mention. Which, for future conversations, she made sure to never bring up. But then, that raised another concern; what was to become of her? Yes, she was saved by this mage, but was he going to let her accompany him? Or was he going to leave her in the next town they stopped by? She didn't want to leave, to be left along again. The only thing keeping back her tears was the promise the mage made; to be with her for as long as she needed him. Whether he was a demon or not, she didn't want him to leave. With what little hope she had left, she held on to the promise he made.

As her eyes glanced around, wondering what she should do until the two adults finished speaking, she noticed a blue object on the ground beside the dragon slayer. She reached over grabbed the scale, it was as big as her palm, slightly heavy, and had an emblem on it that reminded her of Natsu. Believing it to be his, she tugged on his shorts until she caught his attention. When she did, she held out the scale. What followed next sent a shiver down her spine; both adults looked at her with widened eyes. Ultear gave off mixture of anger and fear. Natsu on the other hand, was more confused and surprised that the little one had the scale. As he reached for it, for some reason, Flare flinched, believing she had done something wrong considering the expression on Ultear's face. Though, a second passed when she felt a hand pat her gently. She looked up to see Natsu smiling at her, reassuringly.

As the dragon slayer took the scale, he glanced to his companion with a stern expression. "Alright, Ultear, I think it's about time you explained what _'this'_ is, don't you think?" He asked, gesturing to the lacrima in his hand. While willing to give him his answers, her eyes glanced to the unwelcomed ears. She had nothing against the child, but the plan she had in mind required secrecy meant only for the two of them. Sensing the situation, Natsu turned to Flare with a faint grin. "Kiddo, I need to speak to my friend about some...private issues. Do you mind waiting here?" He asked, hoping she wouldn't fight him on this.

"Y-y-you'll come back?" She asked with some amount of fear in her eyes.

"Of course I will." He gave her a reassuring grin before walking off with Ultear to a small distance, they didn't leave the campsite, but they were far from Flare's hearing range.

"Alright, explain to me what this is?" Natsu demanded, holding up the lacrima scale in his hand. "And tell me what exactly I need it for."

Ultear showed signs of doubt over whether to actually tell him what she believed, or just dance around the subject. Especially considering how the lacrima was made to begin with. Truth be told, she had an extremely detailed plan for how to use the scale, but it would appear that the idea to ease into that subject was shattered, knowing full well how stubborn he was. It also didn't help that the mage was a bit wiser than when she first met him. If she told him of the reasons behind creating the lacrima, well, there wasn't exactly an absolute prediction as to how he'd react. "I said it before; as the new Fire Dragon King, it is of utmost importance that you either have an heir birthed or you chose an heir to take on your legacy should you fail. We both know there is a significant difference between a dragon royal and a normal slayer's power. I don't want to pressure you, but we need a backup plan in case neither of us survives to fight on the day of judgement. After all, if I'm not mistaken, isn't it a tradition for dragon royals; to have heirs once they've assumed the mantle of their predecessor...you know, aside from other obvious things like mates and rituals?"

With a deep crimson blush, the dragon slayer nodded, placing his palm against his face to mask his embarrassment over the 'mating laws' his old dragon slayer comrades filled him in on. Accompanying their lessons were books depicting dragon culture, although, those were mainly based on outdated speculations. The basics were given to him by the sky maiden, and the detailed rituals were explained to him by the Iron Dragon Slayer. "You're not mistaken; each royal head has to have an heir waiting to succeed them. The heir can be of blood or brought into the family so long as they can actually cast the family's magic type. But what is it _you_ have planned?" He asked the time mage, almost as if aware of her plot.

"I want to assure this second chance isn't wasted, but I also believe that should you fail; we'll need an heir to carry on in your stead. If you want to put in the simplest terms; you are now the Igneel of this world."

"There it is again; _this world_. I'm not exactly thrilled with having secrets kept from me, particularly when they pertain to resolving our current situation. I want to know what you mean by _'this world'_. After…we're gonna have a long talk about this 'heir; business. And no, it's not what you're thinking." He somewhat shouted that last bit with a bit of a blush, causing Ultear to giggle. Perhaps he wasn't as dense as people made him out to be, or perhaps he did pick up on the mood but chose to do nothing. The latter infuriated her, for obvious reasons.

"Well, let's put it this way; do you remember the incident revolving Edolas?" Once Natsu nodded, she continued. "Consider what you saw there; a universe with similar features to ours, but with many differentiating factors. Most notably; Fairy Tail was considered a dark guild, and magic is finite. Now, consider this scenario, and our current situation."

"...you're saying; we're not in Earthland?" He asked, trying to keep up.

"Yes and no. See, we _are_ on Earthland, and we _are_ in Fiore in the year x777, but this might not be the same world we originated from. In my haste to cast us back in time, I mispronounced one of the enchantments. And rather than killing us, disfiguring us, or worse; it might've sent us, not only back in time, but to an alternate world, similar to our own. Of course, with many differentiating factors that set it apart from our own." Her explanation, while farfetched and almost made the fire mage believe his partner had gone mad, considering the situation with Edolas, no longer felt so improbable. But, that left raised another unnerving question.

"So, you're saying there are other versions of us in this world?"

Though, the saddened expression on Ultear's face shifted the tone of the conversation. "That is where my theory comes into play, but first I must ask you; do you remember what you saw the day we arrived?"

Thinking back for a second, the only things he took notice of was the overwhelming amount of green, and the corpse they had found. "Yea; trees, water, and...that rotting corpse."

"Do you remember any distinguishable features?"

In truth, he tried not to. Though, there was one key feature he remembered above all else. Something wrapped around the body's neck. "Only thing I remember is...a...white scarf." The gears clicked within seconds, he cursed himself for not seeing it earlier. He turned to Ultear, almost as if begging for his assumption to be wrong, but her unchanging expression said otherwise.

"If my theory holds truth, then in this world; Natsu Dragneel, for some reason, did not survive his passing through the Eclipse Gate. Thus, he, and Igneel, have passed on to the next life. In this Earthland, you were never meant to live past arriving to the future. Though, this also means, to any who knows of the slayers passing through, or who will find out henceforward; you're existence will bring up some very alarming questions." Allowing her words to sink in, the mage's eyes were shadowed by his hair, his head unwilling to rise while his mind allowed all the information given to him to process. "But there are only a few similarities that I found; I still haven't discovered, entirely, what else is different in this world. For all we know, the timeline between ours and this one might not be so different, just without you in the picture. Of course, there's no guarantee this one will be entirely like our own anymore considering now that we've entered the fray."

"What do you mean?"

"We entered a fixed timeline; you're not meant to exist past July 7th x777, and yet here you are. Not to mention there might be another version of me out there. We've already crumbled whatever futures were supposed to take place, which means whatever happens from now on is going to be completely up to how we handle ourselves now. But as far as I could tell, Fiore seems to be the same, Crocus and its royal family hasn't changed in the slightest. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky; this world might not have a council." She inserted a small joke to ease the tension. It worked, momentarily, and only gaining a faint grin from the dragon slayer.

"Is there a way to take us back, to our world?" He asked, with hope in his eyes.

"I could chant the spell the same way again, but there's no telling where we'll end up, we'd probably just end up in another world...we might not even end up in the same world together." She whispered that last part whilst reaching for his hand and squeezing it tightly. "But…I'm not sure I want to take that risk. I don't want to be alone, again." It was a momentary act of weakness, but the thought of being alone frightened her, both of them.

The two remained silent, more so when Ultear was pulled into an embrace. His sudden act of affection wasn't rejected, she returned the gesture. Of course, that was before she realized: without his vest and scarf, which were currently in possession of the little red-head; Natsu was shirtless. If not for an embarrassing situation beneath her cloak, and having innocent eyes gazing at them, she wouldn't exactly mind this situation. Ultear kept her head buried in his shoulder, assuring he couldn't see her reddened face.

It wasn't until a moment passed that the two were now fully aware of the situation they were in; they were sole survivors of a dead world, arriving here was unprecedented, and it already made rippling effects. What was now bothering the fire mage was their reason for fighting. Their world was lost to them, and per Ultear's theory, there was a chance Acnologia wasn't a major factor in this world. So then, why bother fighting the war of another world? Why risk their lives in a fight that wasn't theirs? The answer was simple; regardless of whatever happens next, this was their world now, their home. And, in unison, they vowed to ensure its survival, or at the very least, prolong its existence. If not, they would just be wanderers; traveling between worlds, fracturing timelines and running the risk of losing one another along the way.

It was at this moment that another thought occurred. "Wait, did the other slayers survive passing through the gate?"

"I don't know, I was only able to confirm the status of two; your counterpart and the sky maiden." She noticed the fear and dread in the fire mage's eyes before quickly inserting. "But the sky maiden is alive, of that I know for a fact. I even remember where I last saw her when I began exploring the nearby landscape." The fire mage sighed in relief, though; he just as quickly released himself from their embrace and walking towards the little one.

Upon seeing the fire mage approach, Flare stood up and looked to him with curious eyes, wondering what was to happen next.

"Flare, do you have any family that can take you in?" He asked with a serious tone.

The little one shook her head, her hands grasping his scarf tighter. "The slavers killed almost everyone in my village. I don't have any family left." Her eyes indicated that she was close breaking down, having to remember the massacre of her people.

"I see, and leaving you at some random orphanage is out of the question. So then, would you like to come with Ultear and me? We may not be a normal in any sense of the word..." he gestured to Ultear exclusively, receiving a playful jab to his back from her staff. "...but I promise I'll look after you the same way a dragon looks after its hatchling." Her eyes snapped open as she stared the Dragon Slayer directly in the eye. Any sign of fear was instantly erased by momentary shock, followed by a frantic expression. Ultear, though, caught the reference he used, a smirk formed on her lips at how he was handling this little one.

"Y-you mean it?" She asked, stuttering whilst tears formed in her eyes. More excited to join the salmon-haired mage than the woman actually.

Natsu nodded. To which, the response was a sudden hug from the little one, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck whilst he faintly heard her whisper; thank you.

After they had gathered all their supplies, Natsu had Ultear direct him to where she last saw the sky maiden, in the hopes of assuring she was still alive. Time was of the essence, Flare was holding on to Natsu's right shoulder as he sped through the forest, giggling every time her new guardian used his fire to propel them farther forward. Her attitude changed almost instantly, for starters she was smiling more now than when they first met. Ultear held on to the left side of his shoulder, she kept her cloak buttoned for an obvious reason. She was surprised that the fire mage could carry the two of them, especially since she also had a heavy bag filled with the goods she took from the slavers. With his torn vest, the two had something to hold on to. Though, Natsu used his right arm to keep Flare secured and balanced. At the speed they were currently going, it would only take another few minutes at most to reach the sky maiden's last location.

It was an odd sight, being carried on the back of the fire mage, though; it could be seen as something similar to riding a dragon since he seemed to be gliding a distance before actually touching solid ground. From the shoreline to the thickets of the forest, the scenery changed before anyone could enjoy the sights. Although, there was the occasional traveler startled by the fast-traveling slayer propelling through the forest. Upon arriving at the entrance to the supposed forest where the sky maiden was, the salmon-haired mage placed his partner down gently. His nose twitched as he caught a faint scent, he sniffed the air around in the hope of locking on to the scent. Flare was somewhat confused by his actions, though, before she could ask, Natsu began walking northeast. She wondered why the fire mage was continuously sniffing the air, as an animal would when tracking prey. While staying closely by his side, Ultear could see the curiosity in Flare's eyes as she continued watching Natsu track down something, or someone. She vaguely remembered the older counterpart of this child; a twisted woman whom seemed willing to do whatever her guild's master asked of her. Of course, that was simply her initial impression, things certainly changed along the way. The counterpart was still an odd one, though, that could've been attributed to her experience in her guild. As for this little one; she clearly has already been dealt a bad hand. But, it would seem the sudden world hopping has already begun making some positive scenarios. Ultear turned her gaze back to the path ahead, her mind now wondering what her adoptive daughter in this world would be like.

Ahead of them was a clearing, a small wooden hut stood, poorly, in the middle. Natsu, rather than rush towards where the smell had become thick, uncertain if the child was still alive, he placed Flare down. "I need you to stay with Ultear, I'll be right back." while wanting to accompany him, the little one nodded and stayed, albeit with some distance, with Ultear. Natsu approached the hut, cautiously. His heart kept pounding faster with each step he took to where his friend was. He couldn't smell any decay so it left him with some form of hope.

"Hello? Anybody home?" he called out, and after receiving no response he tried to inspect inside of the hut. Before getting a chance to do so, a frightened voice from inside made itself known.

"Go away!" the dragon slayer, silently, sighed in relief. The young dragon slayer was still alive, although, whether she was in good health or not remained to be seen. Before anything else, Natsu needed to make sure the little one would trust him enough to come out on her own. Going in ad dragging her out would make their situation all the more difficult, and he needed her to trust him. There was, of course, one thing he knew to use to catch her interest. Although, he also knew to keep a better portion of the truth to himself for the sake of future events, and the fact that she might not believe him.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you…I picked up the scent of an old friend and I was hoping I'd find her here." While correct, Natsu had hoped that she would think that the person of interest was the dragon who raised her. "This might seem like an odd question, but you wouldn't happen to know a dragon by the name of Grandine around here, would you?" he asked, hoping that last bit would gain the smaller slayer's interest. Sure enough, a small head poked out from the hut's door frame, hesitantly. Upon seeing this younger version of his old friend, Natsu couldn't help but smile. He knelt down and waited for her to come out at her own pace. But, she seemed hesitant to leave the safety of her home.

"How do you know Grandine?" She asked.

"Her and my dad were friends…well, allies of sorts. I fought alongside them during a war a really long time ago. Long ago for me at least." He whispered the last part, forgetting in that instance that the child in front of him was a dragon slayer with enhanced senses. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you're a dragon slayer, right?" Wendy nodded, to which she asked.

"Are you one too?"

"Yea, I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer." He stated with pride in his tone. "And you're a Sky Dragon Slayer, right?" again, Wendy nodded. "I'm actually looking for my dad; he's a dragon, like Grandine. He disappeared on me, and I was hoping she, or one of the others, knew where I could find him."

"Grandine disappeared too." Came a whisper-like tone from the hut.

Natsu's expression shifted to one of sympathy, having felt something like this before; being left alone in the forest, not knowing where his father was. But the difference between him and this Wendy was that he knew what happened with his old man. "I'm sorry; I know what it's like to feel alone, to feel abandoned. My old man left me alone in the middle of a forest when I was young, didn't even bother to give me an explanation."

"How old were you?" she asked, peeking her head ever more outside.

"I was around your age, maybe a little older." He answered. "But, that didn't stop me from searching from him. If you want, you can come with me. I'm actually looking for the other dragons and their slayers, and I have a friend who can find search for them more thoroughly than me. Also, I may not be able cast them, but I actually know of a few Sky Dragon spells you could learn. Who knows, maybe we'll find Grandine along the way." He offered his hand.

Wendy was surprised to say the least. She had awoken a few days prior and found herself alone, Grandine nowhere to be found. She scavenged what she could from the surrounding area, though; she also had to be careful with animals searching for prey. What she least expected was for another dragon slayer to suddenly appear and offer to take her with him while searching for his own dragon parent. While initially hesitant, she also didn't want to stay in the forest alone. Slowly, she emerged fully from the safety of her hut. Hesitant, she took the fire slayer by his hand as he smiled widely. "I'm Natsu, by the way."

"Wendy." She replied with her own name.

Watching things unfold from afar, Ultear couldn't help but smirk, not at the fire mage, but towards the child next to her who seemed to be pouting. Her face made this oddly cute expression when Ultear told her that there was a chance Natsu would take another child in. It appeared that she didn't like the idea of having to share the attention of the fire mage with another. Seeing the opportunity to tease her partner, she waited until he returned with the sky maiden in his arms with a sly smile. Upon him rejoining the group, he instantly took notice of the little one pouting, whilst keeping her eyes from making contact. As he placed the younger slayer down, he turned to the adorably angry red-head.

"Flare, you ok?" he asked, to which Ultear smacked the back of his head with her staff, again. All the while shaking her head.

"Oh, Natsu, you should've asked your 'hatchling' if she would be fine having a sibling. Did it ever occur to you that she might not be so keen on the idea of sharing her papa with someone she doesn't know?" Ultear's tease wasn't without a return from the fire mage. While startled at first, he quickly replied with his own tease.

"Are you sure it's just Flare who doesn't want to share, mother dearest?" He cooed, receiving a harder smack to the back of his head, keeping her face turned away as to not let him see her crimson blush. She didn't expect him to fire back with this, nor did she expect it to embarrass her so much. All the while Flare's cheeks lit with a tint of pink, she twiddled her fingers shyly, still haven't adjusted to the idea of having a new guardian. But, she wasn't opposed to the idea of him being her parent; it was more of a matter of what he thought of her. Wendy, while initially unsure, showed a similar reaction to Flare's. Although, she joined Natsu under the promise of finding her mother, but, under these circumstances, they almost looked like a normal, little family.

Almost

 **-Nighttime-**

Before advancing to their next destination, the group of four set up camp in the clearing. The small ones were to sleep in the hut, while the fire slayer and the time mage kept watch outside. For the better half, the two children seemed to be shy and have no intention of speaking to the other. Although, at some point, whilst Ultear and Natsu had finished preparing Dinner for the group, they could faintly hear the soft giggles coming from inside the hut. The fire mage was glad the two were getting along, but he wondered if they would get along with the others he planned to bring into the fold.

"So then, tomorrow I go and search for the other dragon slayers and you take the girl's to Magnolia?" Ultear asked while serving two plates.

"Yea. Normally I'd go look for them myself, but I have some things to take care of when I get to Magnolia. First thing I'm going to do is buy the girls better cloths, build a house, then I'm going down to see gramps."

"Build a house? Now that I have to see." Ultear found it amusing that the mage best known for destruction actually knew how to construct a house. "What are you going to tell the master?" she asked, somewhat worried.

"Nothing." His answer surprised her, considering how much trust the fire mage had for his guild master. "Not yet at least. I just want to check on them, to see if everyone is fine."

"Are you going to join the guild?" She asked, wondering how he'd ask considering Natsu still had his old guild's emblem on his shoulder, an X scar atop it, given to him by the bringer of the end himself.

The fire mage placed his hand against his emblem with a melancholy smile. "I don't know, wouldn't it feel weird to join your guild, but one from another world?"

Ultear glanced back into the bag and pulled out bandage tape. "I found this inside the bag a little while ago; convenient. If you're going to Magnolia you're going to have to hide that emblem. Or you'll raise suspicion."

Without needing to be told twice, the older slayer took the tape and began wrapping it around his right shoulder. It didn't feel right to hide his guild mark, but even he understood the circumstances under which he needed to hide it. Granted, it would've been easier if he just erased the emblem and joined the guild anew, though, even Ultear knew better than to give him that option. Before the two could move to the hut to give the girls their dinner, said girls emerged from the hut. The two walked up to Natsu, both seemed a bit nervous for some reason.

"You two ok?" the fire mage asked.

To which Flare responded. "Could you tell us a story, p-please?"

Natsu smiled and nodded, the girls both ran back inside the hut with widened grins on their faces. As he was about to go in with their dinner, Ultear felt the need to tease him a bit more. "Well now, a father is what you've become whether you like it or not. Congratulations, who would've thought? Although, you don't seem bothered with the idea of being a father."

Surprising enough, it was when he responded that she noticed his melancholy smile had not changed. Instead, he left her with a few choice words that made her rethink how much she knew about this dragon slayer.

"Yea, I guess there's still some left in me."

 **And here is the second chapter, now, I'd like to point out that I could've kept things less complicated by simply making this a story where Natsu and Ultear either; A. go back in time and assist their past selves in preventing the end, or B. have them go back in time, same age as when they were in the future, and have them live through the events following up to the current arc. But, I'm trying this route. Also, I plan to keep the timeline fairly the same with just a few minor changes…well, as minor as can be considering what I have planned. Oh, and really quick; i didn't intend, nor do i want to make this a harem fic, but, who knows, it might just come in a package you didn't expect (foreshadowing) or it might not come at all (or not). You'll just have to keep on reading to find out. But, like i said before, the pairing isn't what this fic will revolve around.**

 **Thank you all for reading, stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	3. Forming Bonds

After temporarily going their separate ways, Ultear's mind was clouded with the salmon-haired mage's words from the night prior. So much could be taken from those few choice words, but the one possibility that kept her uneasy was one in which she had lost before even beginning. In what did she lose? To that, one would have to pay close attention to her continuous motives. Although, knowing her mission at the moment, she found solace in not having to think of what she still didn't know about the fire king's life. Still she kept with the hope that their time in this world would not be wasted, that they would make the world last or die trying. But before the latter could be considered an option, they needed successors; mages and warriors to continue on in their stead. And for that, Ultear was tasked with finding the other dragon slayers and bringing them to Magnolia. While on her mission, she had one minor destination to stop by, before setting out to a location she hoped was still intact. And with any luck, they'd have an addition to their group.

 **-A month after arriving in Magnolia-**

The travel to Magnolia took roughly three days, which was mainly due to Natsu not wanting to take the train, for obvious reasons. After arriving the mage went to work with the plans he had in mind. Luckily, in this world, the plot of land he purchased was still the same price, for the same reason the offer was so low; unending hindrance of wildlife. Though, as he did before, his constant hunting of these hindrances would prove who the dominating factor of this woodland was. The offer for the land was roughly 110,000 jewels, again, a low price for the constant wandering wildlife. After purchasing said plot of land, and ridding it of its pest problem, which took four days for the animals to get the message considering he wasn't exactly lying in wait, but rather openly hunting them. Not enough to be counted as poaching, but enough to scare off larger beasts. Besides, it wasn't like he and his family didn't eat the catch. Taking into account how much he could eat, and the extra meat he would sell; it wasn't all that bad. Still, he made sure to not overdue the hunting; the goal was to mark his territory. His priority after clearing the land was to begin building a house, which would take days to complete if he stuck with a single floor and some rooms for the little ones, in addition, he'd need supplies. Thankfully, he made sure to rent an apartment in the city for the little ones to sleep in. While he went to work buying supplies and taking odd jobs around the city to keep their jewel count from plummeting completely, he'd make sure to at least find work close to home so that if an emergency came up, he'd be close enough to respond. He also bought some toys and books for the little ones to occupy themselves with until he returned. He did, however, keep his distance from the Fairy Tail guild, luckily, rarely running into any members in the time he spent in the city. No one knew him, so he didn't exactly draw attention, aside from a few murmurs over the odd color of his hair.

Throughout the first day they arrived, he took the girls shopping for new cloths. Wendy chose a blue and yellow horizontal-striped, sleeveless dress with brown sandals. Flare picked out shorts in a similar color to those Natsu wore; accompanying it was a red frilly blouse with dark brown sandals. Neither of the two was especially picky over clothes, nor did they seem too interested in buying much clothing. Natsu, for many reasons, was extremely glad his little ones weren't as invested in shopping as a certain group of women he knew. For himself, he acquired a new orange and black, sleeveless vest, with a somewhat similar pair shorts to his torn ones, in color and design. All the while he still chose not to wear a shirt, thus allowing any passerby to see his exposed chest. While many would say it was a distraction to see him in such a way, it didn't appear to draw any objections from those who saw his bare chest. His white scarf hid the scar on his neck, as well as the lower half of his face. Again, no one seemed to make too much of it considering what a typical mage tends to wear. The bandage where his guild emblem remained hidden didn't raise much question either. No too long after, he bought books, though, not knowing whether either of them knew how to read. Natsu spent what little free time he could teaching his hatchlings to read and write, all the while triggering memories of the painful manner his former red-headed guild mate taught him. He, on the other hand, took a less violent and more patient approach. An odd way for him to go about doing things, but as he said to Ultear: he had to adapt to stay alive; being patient was an essential trait. Although, and as with most children, they seemed more interested in playing than they were studying. To which a deal was struck, after a few failed attempts to focus them back to their lessons; if the girls focused on their studies, they could have one of two options. Either; Natsu could teach them dragon language, or he could read to them before going to sleep. While the first option was tempting, the latter was more often picked. Not that he had anything against reading to them; it was the fact that the girls would sleep clinging to him with a hardened grip that made it hard for him to move without the fear of waking them. As he soon discovered; while Flare was a heavy sleeper, Wendy appeared to be the opposite. In more than one occasion, Natsu upon moving too fast, he'd wake the little blunette, leaving him with the task of putting her back to sleep all over again.

The construction of their new home took, at the very least, two weeks due to needing to buy supplies and lingering creatures still wandering. The house itself was a one story building; four bedrooms to the left side of the house. To the right, the bathroom more or less resembled a bathhouse, two shower stations and a large bath tub. The kitchen, unsurprisingly, was above what appeared to be a cellar where the mage had set up to store food. The entrance to said cellar was a small compartment near the entrance to the kitchen. The stairs were small, but just big enough for the mage to go in and out of the cellar. The four rooms were set up in accordance to the budget allowed; a room for the dragon slayer, one for Ultear, and separate rooms for the girls. If they wanted to share and Ultear found her targets, then it would temporarily solve the issue of accommodations. Of course, that would depend on how she fared. He knew there was no way she'd find all of their targets in one trip.

Still, a month in, they were able to move into their new home, the girls were, obviously, excited. They ran to every room, exploring as much of the home as they could. With what little jewels he had left, he made sure to buy beds for the little ones, as well as a week's stock of food. To add to their little home, the fire mage added in a fireplace, never really intending to use it unless it was needed. It was more decoration to him than anything since his magic would keep him warm, even in snow. Even so, he found himself using it more often than he thought. The nights in the forest weren't freezing cold, but they did merit the need for heat. On more than one occasion, Flare and Wendy would ask him to read to them while in front of the fire, a bit of a cliché, but the type of stories he told them were uncommon ones, to say the least. It was odd, living in Magnolia without feeling obligated to go to the guild. Honestly, he wanted to go and see how they were all doing, but he couldn't think of what to say or what to do should he appear. He couldn't join the guild, or rather, he didn't want to. While this was _a_ Fairy Tail guild, it wasn't _his_ Fairy Tail. A guild normally offers more in terms of rewards than independent contracts, and Natsu didn't want to rely on odd jobs here and there. Not to mention he wanted to brush up on his abilities for when he would need them. All the while, he knew Wendy needed training as well, as would the other slayers if Ultear found them.

Occasionally, Natsu would visit the town hall, hoping to find any independent contracts that wouldn't take him too far from home. He never did take a job that took him outside Magnolia, mostly due to wanting to stay close to his little ones, and the contracts paid a bit more than the odd jobs.

Speaking of the little ones, whenever he could he'd take them to play in South Gate Park, the two almost always played together; apparently Flare had grown accustomed to having Wendy almost always around her. The young dragon slayer was seemingly fond of her new big sister, considering how she'd never leave her side when they were in public, unless she was with the older dragon slayer. Their father would watch from afar, assuring the two wouldn't end up fighting, which actually occurred once.

On calm and peaceful day, Natsu was watching his hatchlings play around in the park, the two kept to themselves, not wanting to interact with the other kids. It was odd, calling them his hatchlings, though; they never really seemed to mind, even after he told them what that signified to a dragon. If anything, they seemed rather happy. Still, the two were awfully shy around others. To the older slayer's dismay, he had hoped his girls would have, at least, tried to make some friends. Although, felt relieved with the fact that he never saw anyone pick on them. Of course, it might've been due to the fact that the two girls where almost always close to the mage. A man that was threatening enough in appearance, but with an aura surrounding him that kept even skilled mages away. He sat alone on a park bench, beside him was a basket filled with lunch that he had prepared for this little outing. One of his odd jobs had and him working in a bakery, much to the enjoyment of the little ones when he would come home with an assortment of pastries. While his hatchlings quickly grew accustomed to their new family, the older dragon slayer was more or less still getting used to the little ones referring to him as their father. He had nothing against the idea, he embraced it actually. Natsu never got the chance to start a family in his world, but knowing Ultear; she'd go on about how they needed to focus on the mission and perhaps use little time for 'family' moments.

The more he thought about it, Natsu glanced to Flare and Wendy, both acted almost nothing like the ones from his world. Granted they're both still children, but the events in their lives leading up to the timelines in which they would meet are now shattered, the two girls were now adoptive sisters, and daughters to the Fire Dragon King. It resembled nothing like the timeline he knew, and the sibling count was only going to rise, if the remaining slayers even saw this little group as a family. On that note, another major difference from this timeline and his own; a nest, a group of dragon slayers, were going to reside in Magnolia in the near future. Of course, it wasn't just dragon slayers the fire mage had in mind to bring into his group of allies. Of course, the dangers of bringing _them_ into the fold were indeed cause for concern. Although, if they were anything like their other versions back in his world, there was a chance he could recruit a few to his side. Wording was important, especially considering how fiercely loyal they would be should they deem the cause worthy enough to merit allegiance. Again, Natsu found himself getting ahead of himself, the slayers that would come under his care were of greater importance. Oddly enough, upon glancing around, he found that a few Magnolians were keeping a distance from him. It wasn't surprising when he realized his face had frowned a bit when he thought of his future battle, especially when his frown was enough to intimidate the townsfolk. Although, he soon found them to be frightened of more than just him as the sound of someone coughing brought his gaze to a young girl, possibly only about a year or two older than Flare, in what appeared to be a white blouse with a blue skirt, leather boots, and steel chest-plate armor. What caught the mage's eye were her crimson hair and all too familiar glare. While only momentarily surprised to see the younger version of his former guild mate, his expression softened as he smiled.

"Hello there, can I be of assistance?" He asked, with a non-threatening and polite tone. Even if he was undeniably stronger than her, Natsu wanted to start off on a lighter note than the first time they met. Though, her glare didn't cease.

"Are you the man who has been taking the majority of independent contracts from the town hall this last month?" She asked, sternly.

"I am." Natsu responded. "Is there a problem?"

The girl's glare softened ever so slightly as she shook her head. "None that I know of, but my guild master wishes to speak with you."

Natsu's grin softens as he glances to the guild building in the distance. "I see you're a Fairy Tail mage, correct?" The girl nodded. "So then I assume the guild master is Makarov Dreyar?"

"That is correct."

"I wonder what the master wants with me, although, I had been meaning to speak with him for some time." Natsu commented, gaining the curiosity of the young mage before him. Her hand gripped her sword, misinterpreting the fire mage's intentions. Showing no effect to her intimidation, Natsu waved his arm dismissively at her. "I've no ill intentions toward your guild or its master; rather, I seek to see what kind of man he is, considering the good things I've heard regarding Fairy Tail." Almost instantly, both the girl's glare and grip on her sword softened once more, though, she kept a stoic face all the while.

"The master wishes to speak with you immediately, come now." She demanded. Her actions mirrored the girl Natsu remembered to the letter. Although, the mage had something else in mind.

"No." the young mage stopped, her head turned slowly with a rather intense glare focused on the older mage. And yet, he showed more amusement than fear.

"What?" She dared him to respond incorrectly.

"I'm currently on an outing, so your master will have to wait. In fact, it's almost lunch time; you're welcomed to join us." Natsu arose whilst whistling a small tune to the thickets ahead of them. The young mage gripped her sword again, this time she drew her blade and placed it against his neck.

"There is no 'lunch time', my master wishes to speak with you and you will go. NOW." What baffled and enraged the mage was when the pink-haired man chuckled.

'She's the same as ever, dunno whether I should be glad _that_ part of her hasn't changed.' Natsu thought to himself, all the while, he needed to think of a way to get her to lighten up before his hatchlings came back. Luckily for him, there was something he could bring up, hopefully he wasn't wrong.

Not caring of the blade to his neck, his expression shifted to that of a mild glare as he leaned over to the scarlet-haired mage. The girl backed away slightly; somewhat surprised her intimidation tactics had ceased to work on this man, though, that wouldn't stop her, or so she thought.

"Fake eye." Her eyes widened as he pointed to her right eye.

"W-what?"

"You're right eye, its fake, isn't it?" Judging by the expressions she showed, he solidified another similarity this girl shared with his former guild mate. Though, that only brought up more questions for the fire dragon; did that mean Porlyusica exists in this world? If that was the case, then that meant the possibility of an Edolas event could occur in the near future. Although, this could merely be another differentiating factor this world has from his own; maybe the old hermit was born in Earthland. Perhaps the events of Edolas don't play into this world. Of course, nothing was entirely certain, but at least he knew for certain of the hermit's existence. His thoughts were broken as the tip of the girl's blade pressed against his neck. Her glare intensified.

"How do you know? Tell me." She demanded.

He placed a finger to his lips, playfully grinning. "Spoilers." His attitude enraged the girl to no end; however, before she had any time to act, she noticed a stone heading towards her head. She shifted her head to the side, dodging it. From its direction she saw two children; one with a shade of hair color similar to hers with a stone in hand. There was another, significantly younger, hiding behind the red-haired girl.

"Get away from papa!" the older sibling yelled, to which the young mage was mildly startled.

Natsu turned to see his little ones and smiled. "Sorry, I should've mentioned I was spending time with my hatchlings today. My mistake, however, I'd prefer to avoid a fight with them around. If I treat you to lunch, would you mind putting down your weapon?" When she didn't answer quickly, his expression shifted to a harsh glare. "You're scaring my hatchlings, put down your sword. NOW." Almost instantly, the mage dropped her blade, her legs shaking at the sight of his eyes glowing bright red. She found herself unable to move, moreover, she felt an intense spike of magic coming from the man from just his glare alone. He used his magic to intimidate her, and it was more than enough to keep her from trying to reach down for her sword. Instead, the older mage retrieved the blade for her; he inspected the piece of steel, smiling before returning it to her. "A fine blade, I'm sure you'll put it to better use in the future." His sudden change in demeanor was confusing and frightening. As the young mage received her blade, the man's children ran to him, the blunette was quickly picked up and now sat in her father's arms. The red-haired sibling was glaring at the mage that threatened her father, a stone still in her grasp. "Now then, would you consider joining us?"

Half an hour passed as the scarlet-haired mage sat on a blanket opposite of the pink-haired man. His youngest 'hatchling', as he put it, sat on his lap while eating some form of pastry after eating her lunch. The red-haired sibling was the same, though; she still kept a wary glare on the mage who threatened her father earlier. While the lunch was awkward and silent the whole time, the young mage couldn't deny that the meal was delicious. Even more so the fact that it was homemade. Still, she began to feel somewhat guilty for attacking the man, especially since he appeared to be peaceful father, if you didn't take into account his glare earlier. As he cleaned his youngest daughter's mouth he turned to the young mage.

"By the way, in all of that, I didn't get the chance to ask for your name." He pointed out, a soft smile on his face showed no hostility or ill feelings towards the mage, which greatly confused her since she would normally receive expressions similar to what the other redhead showed for her actions. Nonetheless, she responded.

"Erza Scarlet."

"Well then, Erza Scarlet, my name is Natsu Dragneel. It's a pleasure to meet you." His grin never seemed to waiver.

'A pleasure? Is he not mad?' She wondered.

"And these are my little ones…" As he gestured to the eldest, she spoke up first.

"Flare Dragneel." She stated with a mild tint of pink in her cheeks while holding a small glare. Natsu couldn't help but feel pride in her taking his surname, more so when the blunette did the same with a wide grin.

"Wendy Dragneel." The youngest announced herself with her hand raised. At this point, Natsu began wondering if the others would do something similar to this. He knew one of the slayers would have too much pride to take on the fire king's surname, but there was one he assumed would instantly accept it with pride. Of course, this wasn't his main concern, whether they took his surname or chose to go on with their own didn't matter to the fire king, what mattered was whether they would be ready for when the time came to fight Acnologia. Still, he couldn't help but feel giddy when his little ones announced their names.

"I see. Thank you for the food, it was delicious." Erza bowed her head. "Also, I apologize for threatening you."

It would seem she has her 'rush to judgement' mentality so early on in her age, no surprise there. Natsu, rather than respond, reached into the basket and took out a slice of cake he believed would lighten her mood. "Here." He handed the pastry to her, though; she seemed confused at the sight.

"Umm, what is this?" She asked.

Her question actually surprised the fire mage, so much that he chuckled. 'No way, don't tell me…'

"Try it, it's really good." Wendy encouraged. To which, Erza picked up a fork, hesitantly, taking a slice which held half a strawberry and cream, she took a quick bite. In an instant, her eyes seemed to glow while her cheeks lit with a tint of pink.

"I'm guessing you like it?" Natsu asked, to which the young mage's response was eating the rest of the slice while savoring each bite.

"It's strawberry cheesecake, papa made 'em." Wendy added, Erza then turned to the pink-haired mage with a gleam in her eyes. The older slayer laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head. He could see she wanted confirmation, to know if what the little one said was true.

"I worked at Naala's bakery in the market district for a while; the owner taught me how to make some pastries, among other things, so I bake for my little ones. It was just a temporary job so I didn't get a chance to learn anything else, but I make due with cook books." Natsu explained while Wendy tried reaching in for another pastry. Almost as soon as her hands caught sight of her favorite one, Natsu grabbed it and split it in half, much to her dismay. "Wendy, I told you; you can't have too much sweets, so if you want another you'll need to share with Flare." She pouted while accepting the half.

"Do you only make pastries?" Erza asked.

"No, I try to cook a wide-range of food so we don't have to rely on eating solely at restaurants. Actually, I always make the lunch." Natsu felt a tug of his vest from his eldest child's side. He smiled and added. "With Flare's help of course."

"Hmm." Erza placed her fingers against her chin. "I have a question; are you a mage?" She asked referring to his sudden spike in magic earlier. Again, before Natsu could answer, Wendy spoke up.

"Yea, papa is a Dragon Sla-" A pastry was instantly shoved into her mouth, silencing her before she could reveal what she father and her were. Though, she didn't seem to mind as she happily munched on the second half of the sweets she was denied. Although, now the Fairy Tail mage was extremely curious; not only was the man a mage, but he seemed intent on hiding what type of magic he used. Just by hearing 'Dragon', a few types of magic came to mind.

"Are you, by chance, a Dragon Slayer?" Erza asked, though she quickly regretted asking such a question considering Dragon Slayer magic was a lost art.

"Well, too late to hide it now; yea, I'm a Dragon Slayer." Natsu admitted while patting Wendy's head. He was amazed at how fast her attitude changed towards Scarlet; perhaps she'd have an easier time adjusting here if she joined the guild. However, Flare was a different story; her glare had yet to ease and she didn't she seem to want to start a conversation with the mage.

Before Erza could say another word, Natsu held up his hand and engulfed it in flames. In that instance, the mage panicked, though, when she noticed the little ones seemingly calm, she glanced back to the older mage's hand and to her surprise; he was unaffected. "As a Fire Dragon Slayer, flames of any kind do nothing to me." The young mage stared at the man's uninjured hand as it was engulfed in what seemed like a controlled fire. Then, almost instantly, it went out.

The four sat for a while, talking, although, Flare remained silent. She refused to speak with Scarlet, even when her father encouraged her to. She wasn't exactly eager to converse with someone who threatened her family. After speaking for almost an hour, mainly between Erza and Natsu, the four had decided to head out. Remembering why she was in the park, oddly enough, Erza asked him to come meet her master. While he wasn't ready to go see the old man yet, Natsu agreed. The four now, slowly, began their walk to the Fairy Tail guild. Wendy was still being carried in her father's arm while Flare held on to his free hand. Erza, while walking next to a glaring Flare, still conversed with the Dragon Slayer, particularly since he mentioned having fought in a few large-scale battles when he was younger. Her seemingly angered expression became nonexistent now, perhaps having to do with the fact that the Dragon Slayer had offered to make her another cheesecake if she promised not to tell anyone of his magic yet. Of course, she raised the price by making him promise to, not only make a dozen cakes, but to also teach her how to make them. A few magic lessons might've also been included, much to Flare's annoyance. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why her father was so quick to forgive someone who would attack him. Her hand squeezed his as she struggled to understand, which didn't go unnoticed.

Upon reaching the guild doors, the older mage turned to Erza. "Scarlet, would you mind heading in, I just need a quick word with my daughter?"

The young mage pondered for a bit before nodding, and threatening to hunt and drag his unconscious body back should he try to run. Again, her threat earned Natsu another squeeze from Flare's hand. Once the young mage disappeared, the salmon-haired mage knelt to his hatchling's level and spoke with a faint smile. "Something on your mind, kitten?"

Flare kept her head down and her eyes glued to the pavement. "Why?" She muttered softly.

"Hmm, why what?"

She raised her voice, ever so slightly. "Why are you being nice to her? She's mean, and she tried to hurt you." Her hand squeezed tighter as her mind flashed an image of what could've happened if Scarlet went through with her threat. "Why aren't you mad…I don't understand."

To this, Natsu, even to his surprise, kissed Flare's forehead when he noticed a buildup of tears. His action caused her cheeks to light up, though; it did stop any tears that would've fallen. As for how she felt, he understood why she felt the way she did. For Flare, having spent the majority of her life under constant fear, it's no wonder she didn't exactly see Scarlet in a positive light, considering the mage used intimidation to get her way. Not to mention, there existed the fear that Scarlet might've actually injured him, or worse.

"We can't judge her based on one little incident, besides, she might be really nice, but we'll never know if we don't give her a chance. Who knows, the two of you might have more in common than you realize." Unwilling to look up, Natsu grabbed her chin and made her face him, eye to eye. "Promise me you'll at least give Erza a chance."

"I promise." She mumbled.

"Oh, and if you should see someone in nothing but their underwear, the first thing you need to do is…" He added a few more things for his little one to remember, she blushed just at the mere thought of someone being so bold as to walk around in nothing but their underwear.

And with that, the salmon-haired mage and the little one in his arms smiled. Taking only a moment to gather himself, the fire king breathed in and swung the guild doors opened. In that instance, his head flashed memories of his old guild life; the first time he arrived, the parties and brawls that followed, and all together the bountiful memories he made. Upon stepping into the guild, his next breath was of relief as the entire guild and its members appeared the same. Though, the conversations and miniature brawls stopped completely as soon as the pink-haired mage made his way to where Erza sat; at the bar.

Watching him enter, she too sighed in relief of not having to act on her threat of chasing him down. Once he sat at the bar, he placed Wendy down with Flare, the two sticking close to their father as all eyes were on them. Natsu could see the curiosity in their eyes, the cheer and joy was apparent in this guild, so much so that it made him smile.

"So, when do I speak with the master?" He asked the young mage, to which a rather small, old man walked across the bar's counter. There was no mistaking it, the sight of the guild master made the fire king want to embrace his grandfather-like figure, however, in this world, things were entirely different. As such, he'd need to adapt to the situation at hand. As the old man stopped before him, the fire king smirked. "Master Makarov, I presume?"

"Hmm, that I am. Are you the mage who's been taking nonstop contracts from the town hall this past month?" He asked.

"That would be me. I hope I'm not causing your guild trouble, I'm just trying to make ends meet." Natsu chuckled out nervously.

"You haven't caused any trouble here, but I asked to have you brought here because I'm impressed; over 60 jobs in less than a month, granted these weren't high-class jobs, but you completed them in record time nonetheless. Tell me; what type of mage are you?"

Before being able to answer, yet again, Wendy spoke first. "We're Dragon Slayers." She stated proudly. To which the collective stares of the guild were with widened eyes. It didn't last as a few choice members laughed at the notion that a pink-haired man and a little child had lost magic. One in particular approached the group by the bar, his current state caused Flare to Blush while she covered Wendy's eyes.

"Yea right, dragons don't exist. Be serious and answer gramp's questions." He stated while recovering from a laughing fit. What no one expected was a rather harsh kick to the boy's face as the one who attacked him was still covering the eyes of her little sibling.

"Don't laugh at my sister! And put some cloths on, you damn stripper!" She yelled out, surprising both the guild and Natsu. He never remembered the Flare from his world acting this way, but then again, he never really got to know her all that well regardless. Still, he felt a hint of pride after watching his little one do exactly what he told her to do in this scenario. Of course, the argument was far from over.

"What the hell? Why'd you kick me?!" The nearly naked boy yelled out. Though, he didn't stay put as he began walking towards the blushing girl.

Instinctively, she waited till he got closer and gave him a similar kick to the one she gave him initially. "Don't come near us until you've put on some cloths!" she yelled again, this time a little louder. This time, however, he seemed to stay down. How she was able to land two kicks on him is anyone's guess, really.

While his young one calmed down, Natsu turned his attention back to the guild master with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about that, I taught my daughter what to do if she meets perverts."

"What'd you say, old bastard?" The downed boy yelled out, almost instantly regaining his stance. He placed his fist against a flat palm, preparing to cast his magic. Without giving too much care, Natsu remained seated, his attention focused on the master.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Again, no response. "FINE! **Ice Make: Lance!** " As an ice-like spear was launched at the fire mage, those around worried over whether he would block it or not since he seemed to have his mind elsewhere. Although, before the spear could make contact, in an instant it became nothing more than steam a few inches away, the fire mage smiling even when having done nothing. Those witnessing this were at a loss for words, not over the fact that the boy's spell didn't hit the older mage, but over the fact that his attack evaporated before touching the mage.

"You call that Ice Make magic?" Natsu asked the boy with an unimpressed expression. "You've still got ways to go if that's all you have. But you should stop now, you won't win against me. And I have no interest in fighting you." He warned.

Unwilling to accept defeat, he prepared another attack, only to have a wave of fire wash over him. It was less of an attack, and more of a warning, all the while the fire king had engulfed himself in fire whilst sporting a scowl. "I won't repeat myself, boy. Stand down." In a way, Natsu felt giddy over finally having the upper hand over his rival, on the other hand, he honestly didn't want to fight him considering their difference in power now.

"You'd be wise to do as he says, Gray." Erza suggested, impressed by the sudden rise in temperature. The ice mage, although hesitantly, lowered his arms. Once he did, Natu extinguished his flames, with no burns or damage to his body or clothing in sight. While his little display caught the attention of those around him, the master was more focused on the mage's ability to surround himself in flames without being affected by them. It wasn't too impressive for him to get Gray to stand down, but for him to use his magic mainly as a means of intimidation, the master held a bit of dread as to whether Scarlet and this mage were related by any chance. It might be, considering the red-haired daughter who showed her strength in dealing with Gray and his stripping habits. Hell, having one Erza was more than enough, but to have an entire family of them growing up in the same place; it spelled trouble and fear in the long run. All joking aside, seeing this mage display his power was more than enough for Makarov to consider asking him the following question.

"*cough* Mr. Dragneel was it? I'd like for you to consider joining my guild." The master offered while chugging down a mug of beer. The Whole guild looked to the new mage, wondering what he'd say. Granted, Makarov didn't expect an answer immediately, rather, he asked the pink-haired mage to get himself acquainted with the guild members. Even if he didn't join, he still lived in Magnolia, and it would be beneficial to have a friend outside the guild during emergencies.

As such, the pink-haired mage was, reluctantly, pulled into the guild's party-like attitude. It felt like old times; beer bottles and stools thrown here and there, along with the occasional mage. Insults became full-on brawls, those of which Natsu kept both his hatchlings away from. Wendy sat on his lap while Flare sat next to them, drinking a juice she had ordered from the barmaid. After being here for a while and watching the guild go about their business, she couldn't deny how interested this place was. She'd watch as the guild members would get into brawls and playfully beat the crap out of one another, and at some points she could see some guild members actually enjoying a bit of peace amongst all the chaos. At some point, she felt tempted to join in, mostly to get a couple more hits on the stripper, but she preferred not causing trouble for a guild she wasn't even a part of…yet.

Speaking of the stripper, Flare watched him have some sort of argument with Erza, it didn't seem to be too much of a big deal, although, that was until the armored mage decided to leave without so much as showing any expressions. As Scarlet left, Flare couldn't help but watch, she felt a nudge on her back. She turned to see her father gesturing for her to follow. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he wanted; for her to get to know what the mage was like, and maybe even start some form of friendship. With some hesitation, she placed her drink down and followed her fellow red-head. While not too far away, Flare followed the young mage from a distance, not yet decided what to say or do. Granted, Flare didn't exactly know how to talk to anyone her age, let alone a mage like Erza. In fact, she felt tempted to actually walk back to the guild and lie about trying. Though, there was a sight that caught her attention; upon reaching a river bank, Scarlet had sat down on the grass, pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them tightly, and buried her head on her arms. It was a sight all too familiar for Flare. While rubbing her wrists, she glanced to see some permanent scars left by the chains once wore. She wondered if Erza knew that pain. Though, the two barely knew each other, so, if they were going to start off it would need to be on a lighter mood. An idea clicked as the young one ran for the guild, taking only thirty minutes to return, she found Erza in the same spot.

Cautiously, she approached with an object in hand. Flare kept her nerves up as she grew ever closer to her fellow red-head. As she was but a few feet away, she could faintly hear the girl sniffling. Realizing what she had went through in past few minutes, Flare felt her nervousness, momentarily subside as she walked up to the mage and sat beside her. To say Scarlet was surprised would be an understatement; she looked at the eldest Dragneel sibling with a confused gaze that was soon wiped clean upon glancing to the object in Flare's hand; a slice of cheesecake with a whole strawberry on top. The two red-heads sat in silence, one gazing towards the running water, the other staring at the other. Without looking at her, Flare handed Scarlet the pastry. "Here." She offered.

While confused, Erza accepted. "I thought you were mad at me."

"I am…" Flare admitted, cold, blunt honesty being a trait many would soon find out came to her naturally. "But I followed you after you left the guild. Then I saw you crying so…I…."

"You followed me?" Erza asked, honestly surprised Flare of all people followed her.

She nodded, further keeping her eyes on the water. Rather than continue questioning her, Erza eat the cake and focused her attention, as well, to the flowing river. While nothing particularly grand occurred between the two, there was a moment of peace between them. They didn't say anything, nor did they fight, laugh, hug or cry; they just sat and watched the river flow. From afar, Makarov and Natsu watched them interact. Both knew it would take a while for their respective red-heads to open up, but this was a starter, small albeit.

 **-Later that night-**

As the day comes to an end, Natsu finds himself tucking in Flare and Wendy in their respective rooms. The girls had a long day, Flare in particular. He enjoyed his time at Fairy Tail, regardless if it wasn't the same one he knew. It was surprising how similar this one was to the one back in his world. Perhaps Ultear was right and only his death was all that differentiated this world from his. As he was to retreat to his room for the night, he heard faint knocking on his door. He took a quick sniff of the air, catching a familiar scent, along with a new one.

He smiled as he walked up and opened the door, gesturing his guest to come in. "Come in, I'm surprised you found this place, Ultear."

The woman had returned with a rather large package on her back. She smiled as she entered the fire king's home. "Believe me,; it was easy. It's cozy in here." She commented before turning back to face the mage. "I caught a lead one of the slayers, but he slipped through my grasps." She admitted, somewhat sounding defeated. "Not to mention, I made a bit of a side tour on my way back." She added, to which the package on her back started moving. The fire mage, while initially started, caught on to the familiar scent being given off by the package. As he approached the bag, a young girl with bubblegum pink hair pokes her head from under her hood.

It startled the slayer if only for a second, he glanced; first to the child, then to the woman.

"U-ultear?" He stuttered, wondering where and how she got this little one.

Rather, the time mage smiled, almost sinister-like. She grabbed the fire mage and brought him closer to her as she reached over and was now holding the younger pinkette in her hands. The child seemed comfortable in the woman's arms.

"Natsu, I'd like you to meet, Meredy."

 **Before anyone asks, I plan to make just a few more chapters of them in the past before time skipping to where supposedly 'Natsu' meets Lucy, or will they? A major change coming up, some of you might guess it, others will not. What's the twist? I did my best to keep it subtle, but if you really want to know, stay tuned.**

 **Thank you all for your feedback, believe me it means a whole lot to me just to know my story has caught your interest. And even if it doesn't, I'll still enjoy writing. Thanks for reading.**


	4. Training Starts?

As a new day greets Magnolia, a young pinquette awakens to the sounds of birds chirping loudly outside. The excessive morning sounds irritated her to a great degree as it interrupted her peaceful slumber. Hesitantly, and with great annoyance, she awoke. Slowly, her eyes opened, only to snap open in an instant when her eyes met with the eyes of two curious children staring at her. Though, it wasn't until she heard a rather large exhale did she turn her head up to realize that she was not on a bed, but rather, she was asleep on top of an older pinquette. And, to add to it, she glanced to the other side of the bed and failed to find the woman who had rescued her. As she attempted to rise up, she found herself held down by a strong palm on her back, the hand belonging to the older pinquette. The hand moved up and pressed her head against his chest, the mage mumbled a bit in his sleep. The younger pinquette found herself listening to his heartbeat, whilst feeling a warm and nurturing aura emitting from the fire king. Though, as comfortable as it felt, Meredy couldn't help but feel intimidated by the other little ones staring at her. She used a free hand to nudge the older slayer's chin, softly. Very slowly, his eyes opened, though he remained laying down thanks to the added weight on his chest.

As he glanced around, his eyes caught sight of bubblegum pink atop him with his hatchlings standing by the bedside with both curious and confused expressions. He shared in the confusion of the situation, though; he wondered why the smaller pinquette wasn't with Ultear at the moment. Speaking of which, the door to the room opened, Ultear walked in with a faint grin on her lips. A multitude of scents from the kitchen seeped in and engulfed the room; the intoxicating aromas were enough to garner a few faint growls, and one rather loud, oddly feral, growl from the older mage. The hatchlings giggled at the older pinquette's obvious show of hunger.

"Alright girls..." Ultear clasped her hands together while making her way to the bed. "...Flare, could you take the little ones and get them dressed. There's a grey bag in the next room that has Meredy's clothes. After you've all washed up, feel free to help yourselves to breakfast." The older hatchling expressed an almost faint glare, though, not entirely aimed towards the time mage. Still, she did as she was told; she reached to Meredy and gently placed her down, taking both the young pinquette and the blunette to get dressed. Once they were gone, Natsu couldn't help but comment on the subtle hostile expression his daughter sent towards the time mage.

"There's something I don't want her to make a habit of."

"Huh?" Ultear asked.

"Flare's been openly wary towards people who attack me in any way, be it playful or otherwise." Natsu clarified.

"Of course she would, what child wouldn't when they see their parents being hurt? But I haven't really attacked you...least not in any way that would suggest us as enemies...anymore." She muttered that last bit, realizing how the little one only starting showing hostility after the time mage smacked the fire king around a few times, playfully mind you. Though, to the little one, it didn't appear to be playful.

"I know that, but she doesn't. We're used to acting this way, but to her it's something completely new. Hell, you should've seen how she reacted to Erza's way of handling a mission. She actually threw a rock at her; she missed, but points for bravery though." He chuckled at the memory of seeing the younger version of his former guild mate.

"You went to Fairy Tail?" Ultear asked, surprised that the fire mage made his appearance known to his former guild quicker than she had anticipated. Though was even more surprised to hear that Flare dared to stand up to Erza, considering the stories she heard of the knight.

"Well, it's more like I unintentionally made myself a prime candidate for recruitment. The master took notice of my completed contracts, and asked me to join."

"And will you join?" The two remained silent for a good long minute, that is, until the salmon-haired mage chuckled lightly and shook his head.

"No. My heart belongs to _my_ Fairy Tail, I'll assist this one the best way I can, but I have no plans of joining the guild." He responded, much to Ultear's surprise. She assumed he wouldn't hesitate to be a part of the guild again, but she couldn't find fault in his reasons either. "But, there's still the issue with Flare." Natsu arose from the bed and walked to the dresser nearby, caring less for the fact that he was in just boxers, allowing the time mage a complete view of his chest, and in addition to the eye-candy; a rather impressive bulge. The sight caused her to instinctively lick her lips, the action, thankfully, went completely unnoticed by the fire mage. "Today I'm thinking we head to the guild to speak to the master, we won't tell him of our situation nor will we fully involve ourselves in his guild's affairs, but that doesn't mean we can't stay on friendly terms. On that note; I'm going to gather some information on this world's Fiore, a wizard saint tends to know a bit more than he should, at least from my experience. Also, I want you to watch over Flare and try your get her to open up to you, and Erza if at all possible."

"You think she'll be okay with that?" The time mage asked, somewhat nervous about having to deal with the cold shoulder of this mage's eldest child. While the two were not blood-related, she could tell how much the slayer cared for the little ones he took into his care. And from what she picked up during their talk the night prior, it appeared the girls greatly cared for him.

"She won't exactly have a choice, she can have temporary grudges towards anyone outside this home, but I'd rather not have it go too far. If there's a problem, small or big, I want her to learn to handle it; be it peacefully or with a few flying fists. But once it's resolved, and it will be settled, I don't want her to hold on to grudges, continuously hating someone won't be beneficial in the long run." Natsu stated sternly, his glance turned to the door, fully aware of the eyes peeking through the partially open door. "That applies to everyone. Do you understand, Wendy?" He asked, to which Ultear turned to the now opening door that revealed the young dragon slayer. Her eyes were glued to the floor, though her head hesitantly nodded. The salmon-haired mage smiled and walked towards his little one, ruffling her hair. "I almost didn't sense you that time, you're getting better." He commented, causing the little one's cheeks to brighten at the compliment. For Ultear, this was a scene she was sure the mage pictured for his life, but obviously not in these circumstances. Taking his words to heart, she smiled and began walking to her room, though, not before turning back to her fellow mage.

"I need to review some Intel I picked up on my travels; I'll meet up with you and the girls at the guild later on. Oh, I'll need Flare's help with some things so I'll keep her with me." Upon walking away, she swayed her hips, almost hypnotically. Catching the eye of the pinquette, and receiving the desired effect of her little display; a hypnotic gaze.

A rather uncomfortable silence encompassed the Dragneel household as a young red head sat across from her father's friend. It was one thing to be told of having a new sibling to call her own, further increasing the size of her new family, but to have to watch the little one refer to Ultear as 'mama", with the blunette following shortly after with a mild blush, Flare remained adamant in keeping with the idea that she only had a father. It wasn't as if she disliked the time mage that much, it was mainly due to not having an exactly fond first impression, or many good ones thereafter. The woman would always either threaten her father, or give off an eerily frightening smile that sent shivers down the red head's spine. While the little ones were easily able to adjust and look to Ultear as their mother, Flare merely saw the time mage as her father's friend, nothing more. And yet, of the three to choose from to stay with her and help with whatever papers she had; Ultear picked Flare. Although, the young hatchling was only sitting idly by and observing the older woman read notes hand written in the same language her father referred to as the dragon tongue. Both Wendy and she had a novice's understanding of the basic phrases, but their lessons were given at a slow pace due to the fact that they were also being taught to read and write in the common language used in Fiore.

And so, the two remained silent, sitting across from one another with Ultear scrolling through a few notes she made and Flare sitting quietly. The young red head wanted to get up and leave, however, a stern talking to from her father kept her firmly on the chair.

"Did you enjoy breakfast?" Came sudden question from the time mage, who didn't appear to have taken her eyes off of her notes.

Flare was silent for a minute before nodding with a faint hum.

Ultear responded with a mild grin, her eyes still focused on her notes. "Good, maybe you can help me with preparing dinner tonight; your father seems to have stocked the storage with a plethora of food to choose from. What do you think about salted pork, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots?" As she drifted her eyes towards the young red head, a smile spread across her lips upon seeing a sliver of drool drip down Flare's lips and a glimmer of excitement in her crimson eyes. Ultear chuckled lightly. "I suppose that answers my question." She placed her papers down and focused her attention fully on the little one. "I heard from your father that you had a little scuffle with some of the Fairy Tail mages; throwing rocks at a red head and…kicking a stripper?" She leaned in closer, allowing a generous view of her cleavage through her attire. The sight both brought a small blush to Flare's cheeks, while at the same time annoying her for rather obvious reasons.

"Yea, but they're weird…and the stripper was annoying." She mumbled a bit loudly.

Ultear giggled at the hatchling's response. "You know, that's nothing new to your father; I remember him having similar guild mates when he was a bit younger." If the intense spark of interest within the little one's eyes were anything to go by; the time mage had the young read head's full attention.

"P-papa was in a guild!?" She asked, realizing she knew little to nothing about her father's past. He spoke a bit of his younger days, though he never exactly went into details. All she knew was that her father was raised by a dragon for the better part of his youth, and of course the occasional adventure tale. Other than that, he rarely mentioned anything.

Ultear nodded, her widened grin easing each passing second. "He was. And from what he told me last night; it doesn't seem like this mage guild is any different to the guild he was a part of. So relax, you don't have to worry so much about him; he knows how to deal with 'unique' mages. In ways that still surprise me."

Flare stirred a bit, not entirely at ease with the knowledge that her father had 'experience' with mages like the ones she met the day prior. While she was glad to learn a bit about her father's past, she began to wonder why it was that she was obtaining this information from his friend and not from him. A creeping notion began to seep into her mind; the fear that she wouldn't be seen as much of a daughter. It made sense for Wendy to be seen as kin, seeing as she and their father were Dragon Slayers, not exactly a common form of magic. And Meredy, aside from having similar features, was still young enough to be taught Dragon Slayer magic. As for Flare, while she could learn a trick or two, she wondered if she could live up to the expectations her father would have if he considered teaching her. Deep into her own thoughts, her shifting expressions catch the worrying eye of the time mage.

Ultear arose from her seat, walking up to the young red head and placed her head against her chest. Initially confused, Flare struggled a bit, using what little strength she had to push the woman away. Although, compared to the time mage, the difference in strength was painfully obvious; Ultear, while not showing in appearance, was leagues stronger than the young hatchling. So after struggling for a bit, Flare resigned to her fate; being suffocated between two large mounds. While not being forcefully pushed against them, she wasn't exactly given much ability to move, save for rotating her head. Which, at the moment, would give off the wrong impression should she attempt to struggle again. Then again, while she wouldn't admit it openly, the woman had a soft pair.

"You and your siblings might be different in every possible notion, but you're still Dragneels. And hell will freeze over before that damned dragon favors one hatching over another. He'll love you three equally, on that you can be sure of." She released the young one, Flare gasped for air, almost exaggeratingly, whilst being handed a book by the time mage. She gazed confusingly at the piece of literature, then to the older woman. "Consider it a gift; it'll help you get started." Ultear commented before walking towards her room. "In five minutes we'll head out to the guild." She called out from the hallway, though the young redhead had already opened the book and gleamed at the information being presented to her; basic lessons on fire magic.

If for a mere moment, Flare felt an immense sense of excitement, nearly bouncing in her seat at the prospect of using a similar element to her father. She glanced towards the name of the author; L. Redfox, co. written by N. Dragneel. It didn't take long for her to guess who the co-author was, but the initial name eluded her. For a moment she believed the time mage to be the author, but then she remembered her father referred to the woman as 'Ultear', so it left her with only a notion that the two might've been friends. As she flipped through the first page, illustrations of figures in various stances were drawn with detailed paragraphs of the different types of fire spells to cast. While still not fully adept at reading, she still managed to pick up on a few details and topics relating to a type of magic focused primarily on a topic referring to; ignition.

As she delved into the first chapter, she took note of the stances and wording of the spells. The basics were simple, often just a single word or a simple phrase, although, channeling magic and accuracy would prove a rather difficult task, considering she would have little, if any, control of the flames as a novice mage. The concept of Ignition spells seemed easy enough to cast, though Flare would need to work on her accuracy if she were to cast in close-quarters.

"I see you're already getting into your studies. " Ultear commented from the hallway, her attire was similar to that of what she wore during her time in Grimoire Heart, the color schemes, though, matched the ones of a certain Fire King. Of course, there was great emphasis on her 'assets' and it was apparent that the time mage wasn't too shy in showing off. For Flare, there was a sense of annoyance upon laying eyes on the woman's attire, but it was dulled when she returned her attention to her book. "So, which spell type are you focusing on first?" She asked whilst sitting beside the young hatchling.

Rather than answer, Flare showed the woman the page she was focused on, and returned to her reading. Though, she was startled when the time mage chuckled at her choice of spell to focus on. "A destruction spell?" Her chuckle quickly changed to full on laughter as she could picture the immense destruction this new mage would cause if Natsu took her under his wing. In a comical sense, it appeared that the Dragneel lineage would soon become synonymous with destruction.

"W-what's so funny?!" Flare blushed madly, thinking she was being made fun of, worse of all it was this woman. Although, her question would remain unanswered as the time mage was busy in her nostalgic reminiscing. Before having a chance to ask again, Ultear recomposed herself, walked to the door and retrieved her staff. She said nothing, but rather, gesture Flare to follow. Hesitantly and skeptic as to the sudden mood change of the woman, Flare followed with her book held tight under her arm.

Outside, Ultear took Flare a few leagues into the forest into a clearing. The woman took a few steps forward and turned back to the redhead. "A quick tip for learning destruction magic; accuracy and control is vital. You need to pinpoint where your spell will land, and you need to assure the radius doesn't unintentionally affect anything nearby. Fire magic is particularly difficult to control, especially if you don't take into account under what circumstances you'll be casting." While initially gaining Flare's interest, Ultear's last bit confused her. Though, the time mage expected as much. "What I mean by that; you need to be aware as to what is around you before you cast, especially if you need to keep your flames controlled on a specific target. Casting in an area that has flammable objects is an obvious NO. But that's where accuracy comes into play." Ultear turned back to the plains and placed a closed palm atop an open calm. She took a deep breath and yelled out. **"Ice Make; Eagle"** A glyph appeared before her, followed by an eagle formed solely from ice emerging and floating a couple feet away from Flare.  
When Ultear focused back to Flare, she expected a bit of awe from the little one, although, what she was greeted to was an expression that could only mean 'oh no'. "You're not going to strip too, are you?" She asked bluntly, to which, while angering the time mage, also made her laugh at her response.

"I'm going to ignore that little comment, especially since we're going to see if you can cast a few beginners' ignition spells." Upon saying this, Flare's eyes beamed with excitement. But, they wouldn't as much in a moment. "I want you to try to cast two destruction spells on a hovering target, then, I want you to cast a single spell on a moving target. The goal here is accuracy, it doesn't matter which spell you cast, so long as you actually hit the target. Understand?" When Flare nodded, Ultear smiled and gestured her to take the first shot.

As she took position, Flare turned to the side while holding her palm up. She breathed deeply, focused her aim on the hovering eagle. 'Hmm, I wonder which one she'll try to cast first.' Ultear's thoughts were answered when, with a rather loud tone, Flare casted out.

 **"** **Ignition"** In an odd twist, she snapped her fingers, the result being a momentary spark, followed by the spell igniting just a foot away from the young mage. Her face and right side were covered in soot. It appeared her first attempt at casting a spell was met with the desired effect, although, not entirely how she might've wanted. It didn't help that Ultear was struggling to keep in her laughter at the scene. Flare clenched her teeth before taking a stance again, focusing again on channeling her magic and taking aim at the eagle. **"Ignition; Combustia"** She shouted, snapping her fingers, but again, the spell hit the ground, albeit gaining a bit more ground. The explosion, however, was a bit larger than anticipated, causing the resulting fire to scorch her cloths and again, cover her in even more soot. By this time, the time mage was laughing openly, to which the fire mage took aim at a new target. **"Ignition"**

With a snap of her finger, and a surprising twist, her spell landed on the time mage. Although, once the smoke cleared, the glare on the soot-covered woman's face foreshadowed a difficult and harsh training ahead of them. the mere thought, if only this once, sent a shiver down Flare's spine as the adrenaline died down from her successful casting, and the looming dark aura from the time mage making her realize she might've overreacted. Of course, there was no turning back now.

"…ok, it looks like I'll need to take a more…hands-on approach." Ultear's tone almost felt demonic, as if her glare didn't say enough already. "Now then, please don't run off now, Flare…" the young mage took a defensive stance, reading to cast another spell at the woman. But, if only for a split second, her guard dropped upon seeing the woman smile. And yet, it wasn't the kind you'd feel comforted and at ease with. Ultear's smile frightened the fire mage, in more ways than she imagined. The kicker, however, was when the time mage disappeared for a split second, and then reappearing behind the redhead. She leaned closely and whispered. "…cause mommy needs to express some rage."

 **-Fairy Tail Guild-**

At the Fairy Tail guild, an intense shiver ran down the Fire King's spine as a sudden image of Ultear's infamous false smiles flashed before his eyes. For the third time since setting off for the guild, he wondered if leaving Flare with Ultear was the best idea.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Dragneel?" the headmaster asked from his seat beside the mage.

Natsu turned to the old man and smiled. "Y-yea, just thinking about my hatchling." He answered with a toothy grin.

"I see; I going to be honest I didn't expect you to have more children than Flare and Wendy, especially for some your age." Makarov commented while turning his gaze to Meredy. The pinquette was easily getting along with Wendy and Erza. While the three were occupied, the guild master and Natsu observed from the bar. As the two drank and watched the mages of the guild go about their daily routine, Natsu couldn't help but comment on the guild, while also revealing a bit of knowledge he wondered if applied to this world's Fairy Tail.

"This guild of yours is so lively, is there ever a moment's peace?" Natsu asked, smiling as he knew the oncoming answer.

"Nope, and I intend to keep it that way. After all, we're not just a guild; Fairy Tail is a place where we treat each other like family, we look out for one another, and anyone is welcomed." Makarov stated proudly.

Natsu smiled fondly at hearing these words, it appeared that this guild was the same as his. Of course, he couldn't help but comment on something he predicted the guild master would say next. "Hmm, an interesting concept; Fairy Tail. Do fairies have tails, do they even exist? Like this guild, it's an eternal mystery...a never ending adventure..." Makarov's eyes widened upon hearing those words come from the fire mage's mouth. Natsu chuckled softly to himself before turning to the guild master. "Sorry, I'm rambling. But the more I see this guild, the more I'm reminded of my old guild. But in regards to your offer; I respectfully decline. While I admire the ethics by which you run your guild, my loyalty is to my old guild, whether it continues to exist or not."

While visibly disappointed, Makarov understood loyalty amongst guilds and their members. Though the choice of words Natsu used intrigued him; whether it continues to exist or not? Was this mage's guild still standing, or were they wiped out? The guild master hadn't heard of any recent attacks on any guilds in Fiore, of course, it might've been recent and the news was still in the process of circulating. Then again, Natsu could've come with his family from outside Fiore, perhaps a war-torn country, like Bosco. Either way, the old mage welcomed the man and his children to Magnolia with a hearty toast, and what appeared to be another party.

As the party seemed to go on, Natsu couldn't help but wonder if any of his former guild mates were still alive in his world. Did they find some form of haven elsewhere on Ishgar? Was all of his homeland still burning, did the rivers still run red? Did they run at all anymore? As his mind was clouded with the feeling that he abandoned his home, he felt a tug on his shorts. He looked down to see Wendy and Meredy staring at him worryingly.

Upon seeing his little ones, his smile returned as he picked up his hatchlings and embraced them tightly; reminding himself that he had a new duty in this world. While it didn't erase the guilt, he still found solace in having Ultear with him.

 **-Later-**

As night fell on Magnolia, Meredy and Wendy were being walked home by Natsu and, surprisingly, Erza. The redhead mage wanted to speak with the fire king at the guild, although, the festivities that followed after his talk with the guild master left little time to speak. The little ones were giggling and going on about what happened at the guild, the main topic being the brawl that erupted just as they were leaving. Though, upon bringing up this subject, the knight's brow twitched.

"I apologize for my guild's raunchy behavior; they always end up in brawls, even when we have guests." She mumbled angrily.

"Don't be, I'm no stranger to a guild brawl. Believe it or not, back in my old guild; I was the one who started most of the brawls." Natsu stated with a bit of pride in his tone. What he received was a shocked Erza, and happily beaming eyes from his hatchlings.

"You were in a guild, papa?!" the two shouted in unison. When he nodded, the questions soon followed, the most interesting one came from Meredy when she asked.

"Did you meet mama in your guild?"

Erza's expression again shifted to surprise, while she believed Natsu had…relations, due to having three daughters, she was still relatively surprised. Questions kept appearing as she wondered what this family was like. And, it was Natsu's response that gave her more insight to the Dragneel household.

"In a way; I guess you could say I met her while I was in my guild, but we didn't exactly start off on a high note. Or the same side for that matter." He ended with a light chuckle. To this, all three looked to him with both confusion and faint worry.

As they approached the Dragneel household, emerging from the forest were two soot covered females, a dirtied and bandaged redhead slept comfortably on the back of the other whilst the older woman held on to her tightly. As they neared the house, Ultear stopped in front of the now startled expressions of Natsu and company.

"Welcome home." Ultear greeted them happily. There was a lingering sense of nearly exhausted magic emitting from, to Natsu's surprise, both Ultear and Flare. Judging from the soot and scorched clothing, it was obvious what type of magic was being practiced.

"You two hungry?" Natsu asked as the younger hatchlings appeared to circle Ultear, curious over the amount of bandages on their older sibling.

The time mage smiled as Flare raised her head wearily, sporting her own toothy grin and nodding ever so slowly.

"Alright then, everyone wash up, I'll start preparing the food. Any recommendations?" The fire king asked, to which both his eldest hatchling and partner responded.

"Salted pork, lots of it." The younger hatchlings followed closely behind.

"Salted pork it is." Natsu turned to Erza who was standing on the sidelines watching things unfold. "Would you care to join us, Ms. Scarlett?" Judging by the drool dripping down her chin, it wasn't exactly hard to guess what her answer would be.

 **Before anything else, I'm sorry if this chapter feels short; believe me the rest of the chapters will be longer. I'm sorry for making you all wait for a new addition, but I'd like to make a little announcement before going any further…yea, you guys know the primary pairing I have planned for this story, there's not really a big surprise to it. Also, per unanimous opinions, (and my own) this will not be a harem fic. I'd happily write one, but at the moment I'd like to focus on my other stories and get them up to speed.**

 **Thank you all for reading this little story of mine, there'll be more content in the upcoming chapters. i promise. And if you're wondering when we're heading to 'present day', I'm going to say in maybe five or six chapters more. Depending on the pacing i take. Thank you all for reading, until next time.**


	5. New Life

Before any light hits the land of Fiore, a young mage awakens before the rest of her family. As quietly as she can, she slips past her siblings, through the empty corridors of her home and through the front door. Once she had walked a good distance away, her feet jolted into a run, the sound of rustling leaves and snapping branches being the only sounds to echoed in the forest. The dim moonlight allowed her to vaguely see where the current trail ended; a clearing, or rather, a scorched and frozen field. Remnants of intense heat, explosions, and chunks of ice lingered. This patch of dirt on her family's land was her personal training ground, until her siblings were big enough to begin their training that is. In the center of the field was a large, scorched boulder, chunks had been blown off from the sides, but there were no direct hits to the rock itself. The mere sight of the nearly untouched boulder irked her, though, unlike before, she didn't lash out or cast in the heat of the moment. Rather, she took her stance, breathed deep, raised her right arm and **"Ignition!"** with the snap of her fingers a bolt of lightning flashed, striking the side of the boulder again before setting the ground and partial of the rock ablaze. Again, she didn't hit it dead center.

Flare couldn't understand why she couldn't hit the damned rock in the center. And yet, Ultear always made it into a big deal, drilling into the young mage's head that she needed to work on precision. So, that's what she did; early in the mornings, before the sun rose, she'd go to the training grounds and practice. But every time she missed, the constant nagging voice of Ultear rang in her head, usually it didn't bother her, but after weeks of training with only marginal improvement; Flare snapped, almost literally. She began casting the same Ignition spell, consistently drawing closer to the center. Though, in one last overcharged cast, Flare's spell hit the tip of the rock, blasting its upper half to dust. Taking a quick breather from her little outburst, she glanced away from the boulder, feeling nothing but annoyance just from looking at it. Although, as she turned her head to the side, her eyes widened upon seeing salmon-pink at eye level. She yelped almost adorably as she fell backwards.

"Fourteen continuous shots and not one bulls-eye." Natsu commented as he rose up from his spot. He glanced to his little one and offered a hand. As he raised her up, she dusted her garments, which consisted of cream colored shorts and a crimson sleeveless shirt. Well, it would be more correct to say her attire was partially covered in soot. "If you want, I can give you some tips." He offered, though, when normally she'd happily accept, her head titled downward.

"Ultear said I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong with my magic on my own; a mage that understands their flaws must learn to overcome them...that's what she told me." She reminded both her father and herself. "But I think she's expecting too much from me."

"Yea, Ultears' like that a lot. She sees the potential, in people but rather than guide them; she throws them a few crumbs and expects them to pull through. Don't take it the wrong way though; she does care, but she can be a hard-ass when it comes to magic training, and don't tell her I said that." Natsu whispered whilst looking towards the forest to make sure said time mage's wasn't within hearing range. Flare giggled at his antics, she placed a finger towards her cheek before glancing to the side.

"Hmm, don't tell Ultear what?" She asked innocently. To which Natsu playfully ruffled her hair with a wide toothy grin.

"That's my girl." The two laughed for a short moment before the older mage walked towards the burned boulder, gesturing his little one to follow. She did so, though, she let out a small squeak upon being hoisted and placed atop the chunk of earth. Natsu' expression shifted to a more serious tone, he took a few steps back and directed his body to the direction of a nearby mountain. His eyes shut, bringing both his palms to his face, breathing in while using his arms in a manner that appeared to be scooping more air in. Upon exhaling he aimed to two fingers towards the mountain peak.

 **"Ignition: Krieg!"**

A large boot of lightening escaped the tips of his fingers, there was a pregnant silence before a large explosion erupted at the exact point he aimed for. Though, the explosion that followed was cause for alarm, considering the aftershock came rushing down the mountain side, through the forest, and to the open plains. A strong gust of wind nearly had the young mage soaring with it had her father not caught her arm. Of course, her attention remained on the damage done to the mountain. She had seen mages cast powerful spells, but none at this level. Truly, the title of Fire King suited the older mage. Although, upon closer inspection, once the dust settled, she could see the affected area was actually closer to the right than towards the peak.

"Understand, Flare, every magic requires discipline to master. Elemental magic in particular, you must understand your element before you actually cast it." Showing obvious confusion to his words, Natsu produced flames in his right hand. "Tell me, what fuels magic?"

The young mage's eyes wandered for a bit before looking back to her father's. "Our auras?"

"No...well, not entirely. As painfully cliché as it sounds; tt's our emotions that drive our magic. For fire, there are five primary emotions that fuel a mage's flames; rage, joy, grief, regret, and envy. Each of these emotions can be enough to fan your flames, but the problem they all share; is unpredictability, and that can lead to loss of control. Of course, when I mean control, in relation to fire, I'm referring, primarily, to absolute control of your mental state. Fire isn't an element that will allow itself to be controlled much like, and is often the case, its caster. Our magic is unique in its own right. Take an earth mage; a stone will not move without the mage's will, but fire will continue to spread. Unless you have control of yourself, your fire will not recognize you as the master." He finished by extinguishing the fire in his hands, sitting down beside his hatchling.

"M-my fire can think?!" She shouted, shocked at the idea that her flames could think on their own.

To this, the older mage chuckled. "No, not exactly. Think of your magic as an extension of yourself. It'll react to the emotions you emit. For example, when you fight against Ultear, do you know why she taunts you?"

"To make me mad?" Flare answered with an annoyed expression.

"That's right. She's trying to aggravate you to the point that your magic will be enough to affect her Ice Make. Rage plays a big part in fire spells, and while I don't particularly want my little dragoness to constantly frown and ruin her adorable face." He gushed while poking her now brightened pink cheeks. "I want you to understand what it means to master fire, while also understanding how your emotions will affect your magic. Keep in mind, each emotion is important, even the ones we don't like; there's a reason our magic reacts so strongly to them. Understanding why is just the start." The mage rose up, his body now turned to the direction of the rising sun. "So, Flare, tell me; what drove you to want to learn magic?"

His question lingered, the truth of why she wanted to learn was for her father to have pride in her. She wanted to learn to master fire the way he did, without a large looming dragon of course. But, nonetheless, her desire to learn was to make him proud and protect her new family. She stood on the boulder and gave her father a determined look. She took in a deep breath before shouting out. "To protect my sisters! Live up to my family name! And...to..." her voice lowered, her determined expression wavered ever so. "To make you proud." There was still an ounce of vigor, enough for her to finish her declaration. Though, her eyes were focused on the ground, rather than facing her father in the eye. She heard his footsteps drawing closer, her head rose to meet his gaze as he gently placed his forehead against hers. His smile had had not faded.

"Magic or not, I'm proud to have you as my hatchling. Always remember; I love you, Flare." He placed his right palm on her cheek, as he did, he felt a warm liquid dripping down over his hand. Before getting a chance to see the source of the liquid, he was pulled into a tight embrace. His little one had wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing tightly. While a bit affected by her strength, he returned her hug with one of his own.

After a minute, Flare broke from the embrace, rubbing away any remaining liquids and turning to the damaged mountain. Compared to her old man; she still had ways to go, but determination began to swell in her.

The rustling bushes from the thickets caused the elder mage's instincts to kick in; he shielded his little one by using his right arm to keep her close to him whilst using his left to prepare a cast. He aimed towards the source of the rustling bushes and shouted out. "Whoever is there; come out! Otherwise I'll incinerate y..." he paused as a familiar scent eased his paternal instincts. Emerging from the shrubs was another redhead, fully clothed in armor. "Erza." The Fire King sighed in relief.

"Good morning, Master Dragneel." The young mage greeted the older mage.

"It's still pretty early, what are you doing up? Did you just come back from a mission?" He asked, to which she shook her head in response.

"No, an explosion was heard from this part of the forest, I came to investigate." She replied.

Natsu chuckled lightly to himself, whilst his little one sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. It didn't take long for Ezra to check her surroundings, much to her surprise; the place almost resembled a battlefield. Chunks of ice, charred patches of dirt, and even a few craters were what was left of the grassy plains. There was a loud rumbling from above, causing all eyes to shift back to the mountain that had a large chunk of its right side blown to bits. From the looks of it, the weight of the remaining upper chunk of mountain caused the peak to crumble. "Damn, I might've overdone it." Natsu muttered, though, it was loud enough that both redheads heard him. Flare wasn't too surprised since she watched him cast the spell, Erza was another story. While the Fairy Tail mage was used to seeing people do extraordinary feats, to blow off the side of a mountain and consider it as maybe 'overdoing it'. Of course, the young mage knew well enough of a certain deal she made with the Fire King, though, chose not to act on it seeing as she never found the time. Now, though, it seemed like a good moment as any.

"Master Dragneel." Upon getting his attention, she walked closer to the fire mage and bowed once a few feet away from him. "Will you train me?" Her tone was of confidence, but the prospect of training with this mage left her with a childish eagerness.

There was a momentary silence before the salmon-haired man's laughter echoed in the plains. The two young mages glanced to the older mage confusingly, that is, until his sudden burst had settled.

"While I don't know much of swordsmanship, I suppose there are a few things I can teach you. But, I warn you young one; training with a dragon is not something to take lightly." The mage informed with a toothy grin, all the while his tone, even if sounding cheery, sent a mild shiver up the spine of both young mages. Natsu rose up and walked a good distance away from the two girls before turning back to them. By this time, Ezra was now standing beside Flare, who, after realizing the fellow redhead was standing next to her, wasn't too comfortable. Although, easing away would prove impossible as she wanted to train alongside her father as well. Of course, nothing could've prepared her for what would come next. "Before beginning, I need to know if both of you wish to train with me?" When both mages nodded, Natsu's smile faded almost instantly. "Understand this; my training methods are nothing like Ultear's. Her teaching methods focus on increasing your magic capacity, pinpoint accuracy, and constant practice of your current spells. While also picking up new types of spells. My method? I will test your stamina and wit consistently, training you to act on instinct at a moment's notice, and a bit of sparring here and there." He finished with a wider grin. "So then, are you two willing to undergo my training?" The two young mages looked to one another; there was a momentary stare each gave, followed by a subtle nod. They turned back to the Fire King and nodded. To which, the dragon slayer's smile turned sinister, causing both redheads to shiver. "Good, now then..." An uncomfortable silence from the surrounding forest left the two girls to wonder if this was a smart idea. Before getting the chance to think on this, Natsu had removed his vest, much to the surprise and embarrassment of the two younger mages. "Let's start off with a little spar. Don't hold back little ones."

The two girls looked to one another, then back to the dragon slayer, both wanting to charge at him, but had this unnerving sense of dread screaming from the back of their heads to not engage this man. But, there was little time for debate as the Fire King enveloped his arm in flames and charged at them. Erza, instinctively, grabbed Flare's arm and moved her out of the way as the older mage came down on the boulder, pulverizing the chunk of rock to dust.

The two girls stared with widened eyes at the dust surrounding the crater where the boulder once stood, of course, this was quickly overshadowed when they realized Flare was being held down by Erza, who shielded her from the initial attack.

Flare thanked her fellow redhead, as the two stood back up, a shadow loomed over them.

"Now then, I'm hoping what happens from this moment forward..." Natsu's form was engulfed with flames, another wide grin plastered on his lips. The eyes of the little ones widened at the sudden shift in tone, along with the increased magical presence and the deepening voice from the dragon slayer. "...remains with us."

 **-Dragneel home-**

As Ultear sat up on her bed, her timing being impeccable, her door burst open with the little ones running in with frantic expressions. "Mama!" The two shouted as they jumped unto the bed. Merely had buried herself in her mother's chest while Wendy was clinging to her arm.

"Morning girls, where's the fire?" The time mage asked, unfazed by their sudden entrance.

"Mama, big sis and papa aren't in their beds!" Wendy had small tear drops near the corner of her eyes; the worry in her eyes was evident that the absence of the two fire mages left her uneasy. In response, Ultear held the two close and did her best to soothe them before they began coming up with ridiculous ideas as to what occurred to their father and elder sister.

"There, there. No need to get so worked up, your sister is probably training, like she always does. And your papa is either keeping an eye on her, or he went to town for a little errand." A large explosion, followed by an animal-like roar from the forest caught their attention. Their eyes glanced to a column of dust, soon thereafter; more similar, smaller, explosions began sounding off. What really caught their attention, though, was the condition of the mountain. The peak appeared to had taken a hit to its side, and the top section crumbled. The time mage sighed, annoyed that she a lot of work ahead of her that day. While the forest was property of the Dragneel house, the mountain sure as hell wasn't.

"It looks like papa is with Flare, and they're making a mess..." Ultear began rubbing the bridge of her nose, frowning at the collection of memories she had that involved having to clean up the destruction the fire mage often caused. She had hoped he was a bit more careful now, but he was just as destructive as ever. Although, even she had to admit, that quality was something only Natsu could pull off; causing major destruction without even trying. Given recent events following Flare's training, however, it could be fittingly said; like father, like daughter.

"Mama, are you ok?" Wendy asked the older woman, to which the time mage smiled and nodded.

"Yea, I'm just remembering what papa was like when we were younger." The gleam in the eyes of the two girls gave Ultear a clear prediction of the questions that would follow. But then again, she wasn't exactly prepared when Meredy sprung up something her father told her weeks prior, but, somehow, only now remembering it.

"Papa said you and him didn't start off friendly. Where you enemies?" Her tone had a hint of worry in it, mostly due to her fearing that her mother and father would still have some ill sentiment towards one another if they were once enemies.

"When we first met; yes, we were enemies." Ultras had no intention of lying to her little ones about something like this. They deserved to know, after all, it was a big part of the time mage's and the Fire King's life. Well, for the times they spent fighting, that is. "Natsu and I had different ideas of how to live our lives. There was a time I was actively trying to kill him." There was an eerie silence as she revealed this piece of information to the girls. If Flare was there, her distrust of the woman would cement itself, never allowing for a possibility of peace between them. "Many things happened, too many to tell in one day. But, even after all of that, your father and I managed to forge a friendship, one that I value greatly." The two little ones looked to each other, both silently agreeing to her words, though, there was still a lingering doubt. "Don't get me wrong kids; I'm not saying your father and I simply forgot our past transgressions. We simply decided it wasn't worth the time or effort to continue with hatred. And you may not believe this, but some of your father's closest friends were once his enemies." The hatchlings were now wide-eyed; the idea of fighting someone as enemies and then later becoming friends was something both considered more along the lines of a fairy tale. Ultear shifted her gaze back to the explosions, still sounding off in the distance. "And besides, whether that salamander believes it or not; I do care about him, more than he realizes." Her expression shifted between worry and uneasiness.

"Do you love papa?" The sudden asking of this particular question nearly broke down the woman; she turned to the bubblegum haired child that asked the question.

For a moment, even Ultear had to ask herself that question. Did she really love the Fire King? Or was her current affection towards him something else? After arguing with herself for a bit, she shook her head.

"I know I find him interesting, and attractive. But I don't know if I'd call it love just yet. I'd like to get to know him more than by the few adventures we shared. On that note, I don't know if that overgrown lizard feels the same way." She replied while playing with locks of the young sky maiden's hair. The two hatchlings seemed disappointed with her response, though; it wasn't for long as they were pulled into a tight embrace. "C'mon, cheer up! Just cause he and I have some rough history doesn't mean we can't act like a family, right?" Her words were followed by giggles as her hands quickly caught the hatchlings off guard and began tickling them. The sounds of laughter echoed in the time mage's room, but the weight of her words remained with the girls. While most children would continue questioning why it was that they were enemies both Wendy and Meredy took notice of the discomfort their mother had with discussing the topic. Their father would probably be the same so, for now; they agreed to leave it alone.

Another explosion caught their attention, this one being perhaps the last of the day as they felt an intense wave of magic flood the forest before dying down. Getting the itching feeling that a couple of exhausted mages would soon arrive at her doorstep, Ultear had the little ones get dressed as she washed up and began preparing breakfast. Although, in the middle of her cooking, she heard what sounded like flapping wings, followed by a thud. The door to the house opened, Natsu walked in with two sleeping redheads in his arms. Flare had fallen asleep on his back with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, while Erza was carried bridal style. As he walked into his home, he was greeted by the time mage giving him a somewhat annoyed expression.

"I overdid it a bit." He commented sheepishly. "...I think."

"You think?" A tick appeared on Ultear's forehead as she did her best to keep her anger in check. "Putting aside the fact that I told you to leave Flare's training to me, you leveled a mountain peak. I understand giving your hatchling a demonstration of the possible destruction she can cause, like her father, but please try to also teach some self-control." By this point her anger had reached its tipping point, but slowly died down. This wasn't anything new; Natsu causing a bit of destruction and the end result being him scolded. It had gotten to the point where she no longer felt it as anything new, it was just expected.

"Papa!" The older mage was caught off guard when his little ones had bum rushed him, clinging to his legs.

The fire mage wobbled a bit before glancing down to his younger hatchlings. "Morning girls, you two sleep well?" Their response was a tighter grip, followed by glancing up to their father with widened grins.

"Alright you two, time to wake up." Ultear spoke to the sleeping redheads. The two budged a bit, but remained comfortably still. "Breakfast will be ready in a bit." While normally that notion would work, the two remained asleep. Flare faintly increasing her grip on her father's neck, and Erza nudging closer to his chest. "So, neither of you wants Bacon, eggs, and hash, with strawberry cheesecake for desert?" In an instant, both their eyes popped open, Flare jumped down, while Erza was let down gently. If their grumbling stomachs were any indication; the redheads were famished. Ultear chuckled softly while gesturing to the bathroom. "First; wash up. Then you get breakfast." With dust trailing behind, the two redheads raced to the bathroom, though, having only been to the Dragneel house a few times, Erza had to follow Flare.

The two older mages stood in silence before the time mage decided to ask. "So, how was the training?"

Natsu reached down and hoisted his younger hatchlings up, both giggling as their father held them both in his arms. "Just as well as you'd expect." He replied with a wide grin.

"Those two were bickering most of the time?" She deduced, gaining a nod from the Fire King. The time mage sighed and shook her head; all the while she held a faint grin. "Of all the mages in the guild she could've made friends with; you'd think Erza would be easier considering the similar past they share." Ultear commented. The grin on Natsu's lips had disappeared in an instant; a sudden thought came rushing back as he placed his little ones down. The two looked to him worryingly before he gave them a reassuring expression.

"Girls, go check on your sister and Erza, and make sure they aren't fighting. Stay with them, just to be safe." Natsu's tone somewhat left the two hatchlings uneasy as they had yet to witness him so serious. Wendy more so given that she had spent more time with the fire mage. Without hesitation, she grabbed Meredy and led her sibling away, leaving the two older mages alone. As Natsu arose to Ultear's level, his ongoing silence greatly unnerved the woman, much to the point that she unconsciously reached for her staff that had been kept at by the door. Her nervousness grew as the Fire King had yet to face her, but rather, kept his eyes focused forward; on nothing. "Ultear." When he finally did speak, the time mage jumped a little. "We need to talk." He gestured to his room, to which the time mage hesitantly nodded.

Once they were within the slayer's room, "Set up a _Muffle_ spell for this room." He commanded, his tone had yet to change, and it was beginning to worry the woman. Although, she still fasted the spell, albeit taking her time. Once the spell was casted, the Fire King walked over to a nightstand by his bed, opened the top drawer and retrieved an item from within. He kept his back to her, fidgeting with the unknown object in his hands. Again, there was an eerie silence before he spoke up. "I'm going to ask five questions, and I want you to answer them with absolute honesty. I'll know if you're lying." His tone had grown darker, almost as if he was daring her to lie to him. What caused this sudden change, she wanted to ask, but believing it best not to test a possibly already ticked dragon; she nodded.

"Alright." She responded.

"First..." he began, turning around to face her, revealing the item in his hand to be the lacrima she gave him the first day of their arrival. "I noticed Flare reading a book an old friend of mine wrote; want to explain why it's here?" His first question felt more out of curiosity than a reprimand or scolding.

"Erza wasn't the only mage who studied Requip. I dabbled a bit in my spare time, kept some books in hand in case I needed them." She answered. "Honestly, I'm more surprised that my items passed with me into this world; the rules for magic seem to be quite generous here."

"Conveniently it seems." Natsu mumbled. His eyes drifted away for a second before continuing. "What you said about Erza and Flare got me thinking; what are we going to do with the timeline? I know most of it has changed because of our arrival, but what if the main factors are still the same? The Edolas incident? The Tenrou Incident? The war with Tartarus? Both invasions of Alvarez? Right now, that tower is being built to resurrect my brother who, for all we know, might actually be dead! Hell, he might even be on our side in this world...on that note, he might not even be a _he_." Natsu muttered that last bit, almost as if the idea seemed comical to him. Seeing him grin a bit eased the time mage, even if temporary. "So then, Time Mage, what will we do? Should we stand by and let everything unfold, or should be step in and save everyone?" He asked, his tone indicating the level of thought he put into this subject.

"A Fairy Tail mage would normally say; save everyone. But..." Ultear had a feeling the Fire King knew what she would say next as her words trailed off. She didn't feel the need to continue as the mage nodded.

"Constantly averting the tragedies will alter the timeline; shifting the original cause and effect." He finished, rubbing the tip of his chin. "Of course, that raises the question; is that really what time is; a chain of cause and effect? Is it possible that time works in a grander scale? Could it be possible that even if we affect our enemy's plans early on, they could still reach certain stages of their plans later on?"

"As a time mage I noticed that altering events isn't so cut and paste like one would think; yes There's a cause and effect, but changing the way you change cause can actually lead to various effects. Although, it all depends on how we'll handle it. If we're to involve ourselves, I can think of one way to do so..." Ultear walked closer to the Fire Mage, her cheek gently caressed his mildly startled face as she kept a faint smile. "Let's just live." Natsu's eyes widened a bit, taken back by her sudden shift in attitude towards their situation. Sensing the questions bubbling in him, she spoke first. "Natsu, we're not in our Earthland anymore, this one has its own rules, its own history; we are just uninvited guests tagging along for the ride. What happens from here on is either a mirror of our time or it is something else entirely. So, with what we know, let's live our lives, raise the hatchlings, and prepare them for whatever comes their way." Her words struck him, in more ways than he thought they would. They were, of course, with truth to them. The idea of living his life raising children, growing old, however old his dragon blood allowed him, was something he had envisioned. And with no way of returning, the prospect of starting over felt refreshing. In a way.

The Fire King chuckled lightly to himself. "Not gonna lie, it feels odd, raising some of my old friends as my hatchlings. I wonder what Wendy would say if she saw me raising a mini-her." He commented, his chuckle turning into a whole hearted laugh.

Ultear smiled widely whilst imagining the scenario. "Honestly, I'd like to see Redfox's reaction." The two shared a good laugh together, a first in a while. That is to say, in a moment where they could mention their old comrades without the atmosphere becoming increasingly depressing or awkward. After a few minutes of creating scenarios, the two had calmed and returned to the next question at hand.

The Fire King cleared his threat before presenting the lacrima in his hand. "I'm beginning to get an idea as to what this is...and what it's used for." His tone had shifted, almost instantly, back to a hostile setting. "Who did you intend to use this on?" His sclera had shifted to deep ebony, whilst his pupils had become bright amber, taking on a similar slit shape as a snake's eyes.

Ultear remained silent; she had shifted her gaze elsewhere for a moment, only to have a low growl force her eyes back to his. She knew what her plan for the lacrima entailed, the possibility of failure, and the consequences of using it at all on the intended. "A true dragon slayer, a first generation slayer is one that is trained by an actual dragon. Second generation slayers are ones with a dragon lacrima implanted in their bodies. And third generation slayers are ones that are both raised by a dragon and have a dragon lacrima implanted in them." Her response was met with another harsh growl.

"That isn't what I asked."

Taking a quick moment to collect herself, Ultear sighed and looked her partner straight in the eye. "When we first arrived, i thought we were on a deadline, I assumed we were still in our world and that we had only returned in time. That lacrima was intended to give you an heir so that the odds of facing against Acnologia would favor us. But, I realized soon after that this was not our world, and there is a chance we might not need it anymore." While she understood the dangers and painful process of implanting a dragon lacrima, her intentions were to change the outcome of their future. Normally, something like this would've angered the Fire King, but, having lived through the years following Acnologia's onslaught, he couldn't find it in him to judge her intentions, especially not after what he had done. The definition of what was 'moral' was soon lost as groups desperately tried to halt the dragon's massacres; to no avail.

The Fire King took a quick breather before asking. "Fourth question; where were you on July 2nd, 791?"

And in an odd twist, it was this question that baffled the time mage. She was confused as to why he would refer to the days in the GMG. Was there something significant about that day, or was this just something random? Had this been the old Natsu, she would've thought this as something odd but entirely normal. Although, with this new Natsu she didn't know what to expect from answering his question or whether he had some point in asking it. "I was in Crocus, on that day I was with Meredy and Jellal watching the games, and later investigating the device used to syphon magic from the participating mages. Why?" She asked.

In response, however, Natsu merely smiled and turned back to his nightstand, placing the lacrima back in his drawer. "Just curious." His tone had shifted back to his calm-like self. "Last question..." Natsu walked closer to Ultear, a somewhat mild blush suddenly appeared across his cheeks. It didn't go unnoticed, as the time mage was at a loss over how to feel about this; first he was serious, then he became hostile, and now he was embarrassed about something? If only for this instant, the time mage actually wondered if this mage was alright in the head. "Will you go on a date with me when I come back?" And just like that, it was the time mage now who was blushing at his question.

"W-w-why would you ask-wait, when you come back?" For a moment, she had recovered from the embarrassment and realized what he fully said.

"Yea, I want to see if I can find the Iron Dragon Slayer and bring him home myself. I don't know for how long I'll be gone, but I'm hoping when I get back maybe I can get to know you a little better. I might not be all that bright, but even I can catch certain signs. Subtle, as you think you are." He replied, imitating a certain lick of lips Ultear believed, hoped, had gone unnoticed when she saw him in his boxers a few ways back. That, and keeping in mind most of the comments she had made, and the repetition of certain flirty jabs she sent his way. The woman blushed madly, realizing that the Fire mage caught on to her flirting, but was irked at the fact that he had chosen not to act on them until now. "I don't want something rushed, nor do I want either of us to feel like this is our only option. I won't lie; I feel something when I'm with you, and it's as strong as the day I met you. I want to know if what I feel is something genuine. Of course, it all depends if you feel the same way." For a moment, it was as if the conversation they had beforehand didn't occur at all, and of course, it was met with reaction each expected. Both, while still giving off the appearance of grown adults, raising children, still found this scenario to be; childishly embarrassing.

"I-I-I'll think about it." Ultear managed to respond, and while it wasn't exactly a defining answer, the Fire King expected it nonetheless. His smile, like his sudden revelation to catching her flirting, irked her the wrong way. Although, before getting a chance to address it, the muffle spell had been broken when the door slammed open, two redheads appeared to be breathing heavily, changed into new cloths, and appeared to be quite angered about something.

"Did we seriously not lock the door?" Natsu asked, wondering how easily their conversation might've been interrupted by the children should they have just opened the door. The two younger hatchlings popped their heads in from the doorway, Meredy being the first to groan.

"Aww, nothing happened." She mumbled.

"What did you think was happening?" Natsu asked unconsciously, while quickly face-palming himself inwardly for actually asking his hatchling that question. Ultear appeared to want to smack him for actually daring to ask her baby that.

"I dunno, papa and mama things?" She replied, the idea behind what she said forced a mild blush across both mage's faces.

"Sweetie, mama and papa were just talking." Ultear told her little one, though; it was evident that neither redhead seemed to completely accept her response.

Following soon after, the children were seated, eating somewhat peacefully. Erza and Flare, while still not entirely in good terms, were relatively calm for the first part of breakfast, that soon crumbled as the meal went out. How it started was when Meredy had nearly finished her plate of food, save for a small pile of spinach her mother had thrown in. Both Wendy and she just picked at the serving of green, neither exactly intended on eating it. To their surprise, while Ultear was focused on some of her papers in the living room, and Natsu focused on a book at their table, their redhead sibling quickly swiped their small of green, picking it clean until it was all gone. The small ones smiled widely as they could now, with their plates clean, indulge in a desert. Of course, this was where the issues regarding the two redheads occurred.

"You know, while I admire someone who isn't picky with food, and actually eats their greens, you shouldn't spoil your sisters like that. A growing child needs their nutrients." Erza scolded in her usual manner. Although, unlike how Natsu experienced it, it appeared the two were going for a verbal confrontation.

"Oh lighten up; it's not bad if it's once in a while. Besides, I don't mind." Flare responded, unaffected by her fellow redhead's glare.

"But as their older sister, you have to set a good example, you can't baby them forever." The Requip mage argued, to which the young fire mage responded simply.

"Bite me." Had the Fire King not intervened, it could've led to Erza doing exactly that.

"Enough, both of you." Natsu placed his book down and stared at the two young mages, a sudden shiver ran up their spine as they could feel the sudden spike in magic emit from the older mage. "If you fight, do it outside, otherwise, I'll double the training." The idea of their training with the Fire King gave the young ones a slight shiver of fear, both nodded, acknowledging a truce and returning to their meal. Funny enough, this was how their mornings sometimes went; it was either Erza or Gray who would come to the Dragneel house, both mages taking lessons with Ultear on increasing their magic capacity, and often ending with the young mages eating together. It didn't start off too well, considering Gray would unconsciously strip from time to time, which for the most part, was mostly annoying Erza and Flare. Natsu and Ultear showed more patience with the young mage, much to his surprise.

Another little surprise was when said ice mage learned that Flare used fire magic, and almost in a similar fashion, both she and Gray sparked a rivalry. And in an eerily similar way, it went in the same manner that Natsu had with his old rival; it would start with insults, followed by a few heated jabs, and lastly, either a brawl or an actual magic fight. Gray had won most of the times, much to the annoyance of the young fire mage. But, it was to be expected seeing how she was a novice. Of course, she did have her moments as well; one of which was when she managed to cast Combustia and knock the ice mage out, while also accidentally blasting a giant hole in the Fairy Tail guild hall. Had it not been for Ultear being there, there would've been quite a debt to pay towards the guild hall. Of course, discovering this power of hers, she was, as Natsu was, a candidate asked to join the guild; to which she declined. Much to both the master's, and the male mage's, dismay.

Speaking of which, as the hatchlings had gotten their desert and taken their place back on the table beside the redheads, Natsu and Wendy's nose twitched before the older slayer gesture to the door. "Gray's here." A knock on the door followed, to which upon receiving a 'come in' from the two older mages, opened to reveal, surprisingly, a clothed ice mage.

"Mornin'." He greeted casually.

"Hey look, the ice pick is actually wearing something." Flare mumbled while picking at her desert.

"Don't start something you can't finish, flame brain." The ice mage replied, annoyed at receiving a jab early in the morning. Now, one would ask, why would a father, a dragon, allow his hatchling to be insulted? For Natsu, he believed a friendly rivalry would help both mages strive to train and constantly push themselves to become stronger. Of course, he warned both parties of the ramifications of taking their rivalry too far.

"No fighting this early in the morning you two." Erza called out while still entirely focused on her cheesecake.

"Hey, Gray, you hungry?" The Fire King asked, receiving a growling stomach as his response. Both he and the time mage chuckled a bit before the older mage remarked.

"Our training session won't begin for a bit, but you're welcomed to breakfast." Ultear gestured towards the kitchen.

"Thanks, but I'm actually here for Erza. The master wants to know if you found out what caused the explosion on the mountain peak. Also, he asked me to come find you, Ms. Ultear, and ask you if you weren't busy; you could help repair the mountain." The ice mage asked. The little ones were too busy indulging in their sweets, but both the redheads were still recovering from their training sessions and reliving what they went through to answer. The Fire King whistled to himself, averting any further eye contact while the time mage groaned as she realized the day's work ahead of her. On the bright side, she would get paid for her work at least. Repairing a mountain isn't easy, or cheap.

"I'll speak with the master then. Natsu, I have the papers you wanted." Ultear held up a small stack of articles, each referring to a thief that apparently has a craving for iron. The fire mage walked over to his partner and received the papers, all the while, keeping his hand focused on hers rather than the small stack of papers.

"Thanks." He smiled, whilst giving her a sly wink and making his way towards his room to gather a few things. The woman blushed for a bit, wondering if she could handle him flirting back. While her normal response to his sudden shift in attitude would be to smack him around and call him an idiot, there were now two redheads looming over her. One was the daughter the Fire King, and the other, as she now learned, was one of his pupils. And at the moment, both were staring intensely at the time mage, each for their own reasons. During her time with the Dragneel family, Erza had come to learn that Natsu and Ultear weren't romantically involved, but rather, mere friends at the moment. For some reason, just knowing that piece of information gave the Requip mage a sense of relief. As for Flare, a simple way to put it; she's a daddy's girl. While her bond with Ultear was improving, however small it was, the young fire mage wasn't too sure how she felt of her father being involved with the time mage. That, and she wasn't too fond of the idea of watching the woman and her father being all lovey-dovey. Surprisingly enough though, she was a bit mature about the idea and resolved to accept whatever decision her father would make on the matter.

When the Fire King emerged from his room, with a knapsack slung over his back, the little ones were now glued to the man walking towards the door. Before reaching the door, he leaned over to the time mage, whispered something in her ear, in which she blushed again as he then made his way to the door. "Alright, listen up girls; I'm going on a little mission for a month or two, behave yourselves and listen to mama. Understand?" In response, the Mage was tackled by his hatchlings, the younger ones urging him not to go, whilst his eldest begged to go with him. Under the circumstances, he would've taken Flare with him, but for the plan he had in mind to find the iron dragon slayer, he needed to go alone.

After managing to calm the little ones down, and convincing his eldest to stay and protect the family, the Fire King was on his way towards the east of Fiore. In front of the house was his family watching him as he disappeared into the forest. Following soon after, there was, again, a loud beast-like roar that echoed in the forest. Both redheads shivered at the sound while Ultear began dreading how much damage her Fire King would cause in his search for more dragon slayers.

"…strong…" Flare mumbled. Erza, being next to her, raised an eyebrow at the young fire mage's low mumbling.

"Come again?" She asked.

"I need to get stronger." Flare repeated, to which an idea popped into the Requip mage's head.

"If that's the case; join Fairy Tail." Here offer was met with a rather disheartening stare, though; the redhead wasn't going to let that keep her from trying. "Fairy Tail is more than just a guild, it's our home; a place where anyone can feel welcomed. And we're more than just guild mates, we're a family. We help one another."

While she wasn't so quickly persuaded, Flare didn't turn it down as easily as she did the first time. "I'll think about it." She muttered.

"Oh great, that's just what we need; a flame brain blowing holes in the guild hall" Gray commented, earning him a sucker punch from the fire mage.

"You looking for a fight, ice queen?" Flare cracked her knuckles while staring down the ice mage. Gray recovered rather quickly, though; it appeared like the two were more or less butting heads than engaging in an actual brawl. Erza attempted to stop the two, but was received with a rather harsh response.

"Back off, flat chest!" the two yelled in unison, which, in turn, earned the, a rather pissed off Requip mage and a seemingly long beating. Watching from afar, Ultear had shielded the eyes of the younger hatchlings while sighing at the sudden realization of the unfolding events; now that Natsu was the Igneel of this world, it was safe to assume that the Natsu of this world falls to Flare.

 **-Meanwhile-**

Opposite of the Dragneel residence, on the outskirts of Magnolia, a hooded figure emerges from the thickets, breathing heavily. Upon their eyes locking on to the city, their breathing had all but stopped. They fell to their knees; three times they rubbed their eyes at the sight of the city. From the exposed half of their hood, tears fell endlessly down their cheeks as a few choice words escaped their lips.

"Magnolia? It's…intact?"

 **Hello everyone, hoping your summer is going well. Here is a new chapter, and if I may, things will now start to get heated. I have a couple more twists and turns coming up for you all. Real quick; I promise I'll be writing these chapters as fast as I can, but I also don't want to just throw anything in, my goal is to structure this story so that it not only keeps you guessing, but also leaves room for twists that, hopefully no one expected. Well, with this little cliffhanger, and a little spoiler, I leave you with:** ** _a winged beast is coming_** **.**

 **Thank you all for reading, until next time.**


	6. All for an old scripture

Within the streets of Magnolia, two redheads and a shirtless ice mage could be seen escorting two small hatchlings to the Fairy Tail guild. Ultear decided to finish with a few of her notes before going to meet with the master. Meanwhile, the two young mages were tasked with assuring the little ones were being watched over until the Time Mage returned. Both Flare and Gray had small bruises from their brawl which was quickly put to an end by a justifiably angry Erza. In the time they spent, albeit with constant fighting and bickering, Flare couldn't find it in herself to dislike or hold a grudge against either mage, especially when they actually had moments to speak. Like her father said, it appeared that both she and Erza had a bit more in common than she knew, though, the mages both respectfully kept to themselves when it came to certain aspects of their past.

As they made their way down the main road to the guild hall, Erza took notice of an item in Flare's hands, primarily the names of the authors. The fire mage had her attention focused on her siblings, while the ice mage was walking beside them silently. "Flare." For a moment, the eldest Dragneel turned her gaze to her fellow redhead. "I was wondering; where'd you get that book?" She gestured to the gift Ultear had given the young mage.

"Ultear." She responded simply.

"I see, may I take a quick peek?" It didn't take much thought for Flare to lend the redhead her book. While the eldest Dragneel wasn't exactly done reading it, she figured the Requip mage wouldn't take too much time in reading it, considering, as she only recently discovered; the second half of the book was written in dragon tongue. As Erza took the book, a beaming expression of joy took over her as she held a book written by her teacher, and a possible comrade of his, maybe from his old guild. A thought crossed her mind as she leaned over to Flare and whispered as low as she could. "Thanks, I'll lend you one of my _'special'_ books if you want."

While initially confused as to what was so special about Erza's books, the realization came quickly as a small blush emerged on Flare's cheeks. Though, surprisingly, she glanced to the Requip mage and subtly nodded. Wendy walked up to them and tilted her head. "Special books?" The two mages blushed a deep shade of crimson. Embarrassment took over the Requip mage as she wondered why it was that Wendy heard her. The young blunette pointed to her ears, almost as if hearing the questions swimming in Erza's head. "Dragon slayers have enhanced hearing." She commented, earning another blush while Erza used the book to shield her face. Flare was quick to cover for her fellow redhead, but now the two knew better; never attempt to whisper secrets around Wendy or Natsu.

Along their walk, Wendy and Meredy would sometimes run a bit ahead of them, having needed to be called back by their eldest sibling constantly. It wasn't until they neared the guild hall that Wendy got too overzealous and ran a bit farther ahead, accidentally bumping into a hooded figure as her attention was focused on getting ahead of her pink-haired sibling. The little blunette was sent tumbling down, while also catching the attention of the unknown.

"Hey kid, you ok?" It asked, to which the little one, after nursing her injured nose, mildly nodded. As she looked up, her eyes widened at the realization that she ran into someone. She quickly stood up and bowed her head.

"I'm so sorry!" She apologized. For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Hesitantly, Wendy glanced up and noticed the hooded figure had shifted their gaze to the Fairy Tail guild. From where she stood, Wendy had a clear look at the unknown's face; there were dark scars on their face, a jagged one on the left right cheek, a jagged X on the right side of their forehead. A couple more seemed to extend into their cloak, possibly leading to countless more over their body. Without turning back to the little one, the hooded figure asked. "Mind telling me the year?"

"Um...it's x777." Wendy responded, to which, the unknown's eyes widened for a moment before settling back to their normal state. As they were to ask another question, a sudden voice called from behind them.

"WENDY!" The two turned to the sight of three running children, with a pink-haired child on the back of her elder sibling. The small group stopped once they had reached the young blunette. "I told you not to run off like that." Flare scolded as she placed Meredy down, checking the young blunette for any injury. Meanwhile, the hooded figure's eyes were now glued to the object in the hands of the armored redhead. The book was all too familiar, or rather, the contents within.

"I'm sorry, Flare." Wendy apologized, keeping her eyes on the pavement whilst twiddling her fingers nervously.

The redhead sighed as she found nothing too serious save for a bit of dirt on the child's dress. "Don't apologize, it's not like I'm gonna tell Ultear about this." Her words gave the little one a reason to smile widely as her sister, yet again, seemed to have her back when trouble loomed around the corner.

"That's no good, Flare, Wendy needs to learn that even in her hometown, she shouldn't stray too far, nor should she disobey her older sister." Erza reprimanded the Fire mage, to which she merely stuck her tongue out at her fellow redhead. And in this one moment, rare as it would be, Erza ignored her blatant jab and continued her scolding. "Master Dragneel expects you to be a role model for your sisters."

"Are you sure matchstick would make a good role model?" Gray asked, slowly catching up to them.

"Better than having to look up to a stripper." Flare shot back, if not for Erza being there, the two might've started another brawl between themselves.

"Hey..." the young mages turned their attention to the hooded individual, who was now, from what they could see within the hood; remained with a stoic expression. "This Dragneel you speak of, is it, by chance, Natsu Dragneel?"

"You know papa?" Wendy asked innocently. Her question, though, was met with a pregnant silence.

"That remains to be seen." The unknown muttered. "Do you know where he is?" The children looked to one another before each shaking their heads. The unknown pursed their lips in disappointment, redirecting their focus on the item in Ezra's hands. "Where did you get that?"

Erza glanced to the book lent to her by the Ignition mage, confused as to why it appeared to catch the attention of the unknown, who by now, judging by the tone of their voice; was a woman. Their height, on the other hand, said otherwise. Nonetheless, the group stared at the book for a second before the Requip mage responded. "I borrowed it."

"From who?" At the moment, her tone seemed mellow, but there was an odd aura emitting from her.

Flare stood forward, her siblings still clinging to her. She said nothing, but rather, allowed her act of confrontation speak for itself. The expression of the unknown didn't change; rather, she just continued staring blankly at the young redhead. "I see." She whispered. She held out her hand, her expressions shifting quickly into a harsh glare. "Give it here." Her tone came across as demanding mixed with intimidation. In response, Erza clung to the book tightly while taking a few steps back. And, in that instance, the unknown's eyes glowed ever so faintly. "That book was written for a clan of mages; my clan. And to my knowledge, only two of us are left, so whoever gave it to you had no business having it in their possession. Give. It. Here. Now." A bit of her magic flared as she took steps forward, fully intent on ripping the book out of Erza's palms if need be. In an instant, Erza drew her sword, Gray placed his palms together, and Flare took an offensive stance. Each ready to cast if need be, although, each of them knew that their attacks would do little against this mage. There was an eerie silence following the sudden preparations for a brawl. The streets had suddenly grown quiet; civilians quickly took cover, particularly since two of the present potential brawlers were Fairy Tail mages. Adding to it, the spike in magical energy emitting from the hooded woman was suffocating anyone nearby. Wendy and Meredy were quickly urged to take cover as well, though; it took a bit of convincing to get the girls moving. "That book belongs to the Drämak, it's what little that's left of us. I don't want to fight a bunch of kids, but if you won't give me that book..." the unknown shifted within her cloak, the sound of a blade being unsheathed caught the attention of the children present. "...then I suppose I'll have to make an exception."

"HOLD IT!" A voice boomed from behind the unknown. As she turned around, she was greeted with with appeared to be nearly all of the Fairy Tail mages standing at the ready with their guild master at the helm. "Let's not do anything too drastic. Causing a ruckus in the city is bad enough, but fighting my children in public when you clearly outmatch them; that is something I won't allow." The master's tone didn't seem to have an effect on the unknown; rather, she seemed mellower upon laying eyes on the master. But, there was still an issue at hand; one of greater importance than reminiscing. As she turned, her eyes widened at the sight of the Time Mage standing in front of the children with her staff in hand. The little ones looked to her in awe as neither detected her arrival, nor did they think to ever see her with an entirely serious expression.

"You..." the unknown hissed.

The sound of her voice surprised Ultear, to a great degree. Not the tone, but of who the potential owner was. "It can't be..." she muttered, wondering how in the world she was able to follow. "L...Levy?"

Following that small introduction, the unknown removed her hood; her azure hair had been cut short, but it retained its wild-like feature, similar to Natsu. The dark scars on her face, along with lifeless eyes, shadowed what was once a cheerful and overly optimistic mage. Her increase in magic levels was clear enough that the bookworm had grown stronger in her time fighting the war, and surviving Acnologia's apocalypse, of that Ultear gave her due respect. But the fact that she was here, a world only she and Natsu were supposed to be, raised a few alarms questions. "Surprised to see me?" Levy asked. "No one ever expects the bookworm to survive." She revealed her dagger, a single-sided curved blade with a jagged back. Along the blade were markings of a language known only to a certain people. There was nothing but silence for a moment before she spoke up. "I was there..." her expression had shifted to a killing glare. "That day, when you and Natsu disappeared, I was there." Ultear's eyes widened, she didn't detect any humans nearby, there were some demons, but none too dangerous. "I called out to you; begging you to take me with you." The Time Mage's heart dropped, she never heard any cries prior or during her casting. Had she known, she would've taken Levy with her as well, but this was news to her. Another spike in magical energy flared as the older blunette's teeth clenched. "I begged...but you left anyway...I thought you were my friends...but..." she raised her dagger, and without warning, charged at the mage. "You abandoned me!"

Using Requip, Ultear managed to summon a shield in time to block the script mage's attack. The guild members from Fairy Tail were about to join in when the blunette acted first. **"Ignition; Combustia!"** Levy's aim was towards the ground with the intent of catching the woman off guard. The resulting explosion sent the younger mages flying backwards, Ultear jumped out of the cloud of smoke, unscathed.

"Don't Interfere!" She shouted towards the mages of Fairy Tail. "This is our fight, not yours!" Ultear growled as she glanced to the side and saw Flare lying down with a few scars and bruises from the previous attack. Erza and Gray were next to her; both seemed to have been knocked out for the time being. Which was a good thing, considering what would come next. From the dust, she heard a clear shout.

 **"Ignition: Krieg!"**

 **-Meanwhile-**

As Natsu had reached the top of a hill overlooking Magnolia, the mage stopped to rest a bit. Even though traveling by train would've been easy, the mage decided to take the scenic route. His eyes glanced back to the city, only to widen in shock as he saw a black pummel of smoke rising from near the guild hall. While trusting Ultear and the master to deal with whatever problem that arises, the Fire King couldn't help but worry. Although, upon the eruption of a rather large explosion, his mind was set; Gajeel would have to wait. He knew running would help him close the distance, but it wouldn't be enough to get him there before nightfall. There was one trick he could use, but without clouds in the sky, his little trick was sure to be a cause for concern. Following another eruption from within the city, the Fire King put aside all doubts. He hunched over, allowing his body to be enveloped in black smoke as the sounds of cracking bones and a feral growl was all that could be made out.

 **-Magnolia-**

Once the dust settled, the blunette was smiling eerily. "Look at that, the old hags' learned some new tricks." She taunted, Ultear had dabbled into Requip magic and store a set of armor just in case. She had managed to summon it during the last attack, but it didn't deter the script mage. Rather, she could tell that her current level of power wouldn't be enough to challenge the Time Mage. Although, where Ultear hoped for a truce, Levy's grin grew wider. "Guess what? I learned some tricks of my own." Levy swiped her dagger over her chest, a series of runes appeared as she shouted. **"Release Illusion:Human!"** Within a matter of seconds, her short azure hair extended past her hips, skin darkening to that of pure ebony with bright blue markings encompassing her upper torso and arms. Two spiral horns sprouted above her now extended ears as her eyes glowed bright azure. Her anatomy mirrored that of what one would associate with a demon. All who witnessed remained speechless with mouths agape. None had ever seen a human do such a thing, nor did they think to see her do it so casually.

"I see, so that's why..." Ultear muttered.

"I've mastered a few lost and forbidden spells, and as you can see; their effects have affected me. In more ways than you could ever know." Levy growled in an almost mirrored animalistic tone a dragon slayer is known for.

"What does she mean by that?" Flare asked, barely able to keep her balance but managing to stand over Erza and Gray, ready for any stray attacks. She had gotten up soon after the first explosion, but was barely able to withstand the magical pressure these two were expelling.

Ultear, while startled at her opponent's use of forbidden magic, regained her composer soon after. "When a mage learns a spell, particularly forbidden and lost magic, the mage becomes one with their magic. This process helps stabilize and strengthen the mage with their power. In the case with Redfox; she has essentially allowed herself to reform into a demon hybrid. She's half human, half demon."

"Wrong." Levy snarled, "My body has fully reformed, there is no human left in me." She commented whilst looking over her claws and glyphs. "It's the price I willingly paid to be able to defend my loved ones." She closed her fists, or at least attempted to as her claws hit one another, not allowing for her fingers to fully enclose. A mild chuckle escaped her lips before becoming a full-blown laughter. "Look what good that did! Everything died anyway! The kingdom, our people...our guild..." The last few escaped in a whisper began as tears ran heavily down her cheeks. Allowing her guard to drop for a mere moment, Levy recollected herself and turned to Ultear with her claws raised. Her expression reverted to that of a stoic one.

Said Time Mage was still taken back by how casually the former Fairy Tail mage spoke of giving up her humanity to become a demon. While such an act wasn't uncommon during the war, this woman wasn't someone Ultear would think to make that decision. How much the war changed people, Levy being a clear representation of what lengths one would go to gain an edge on the battlefield if desperate enough. Said woman charged again, this time catching Ultear by surprise, though, reacting on instinct the Time Mage managed to catch the woman's blade with her hand. "Of all the people I knew, I never thought you'd stoop so low as to surrender your humanity for a sliver of power." Ultear hissed.

Levy snickered as she took another offensive stance. "And where were you when it all ended? Did you have to watch your loved ones burn and die?...for seven years..." Even with her sickening grin, tears were falling down the script mage's cheeks. "Did you have to watch millions die because you were too weak?" She charged again, this time Ultear Requiped a sword she had taken from the slavers she ran into the first days of their arrival. She managed to deflect the woman's attack, but was caught by surprise when she spun in midair, using her right leg to kick the woman away. "SO WHERE WERE YOU, TIME MAGE!" Levy screamed, the flashing images of her former guild mates clouded her mind. From the moment she met them, to the minutes their hearts stopped beating. "In the midst of the screaming and the dying; where were you?"

 **"Ignition: Combustia!"** A snap following the shout caught both women by surprise as a bolt of lightning struck Levy's chest, right before erupting into an explosion. Ultear turned to her side where Flare, albeit bruised and bleeding from small wounds, still found the strength to stand and assist the Time Mage.

"Flare, stay out of this!" Flare flinched at Ultear's words, they were harsh, but she could still tell how worried the woman was to have a little one in the fight. The regret and fear in her eyes were something the young mage had only now just taken notice of.

"I'll tell you where I was." All eyes snapped back to the unharmed demon emerging from the dust, seemingly unfazed by the attack. A great deal of fear encompassed Flare as she now realized just how weak she was. It was as if her attacks weren't even an annoyance to her. "I was there for every moment, from when the land was a sea of flames; to the day I thought I was the last living person in our homeland."

While Ultear's face showed no reaction, she kept her emotions to herself as she too witnessed their world end. But, unlike Levy, wasn't in the midst of the fighting. One thing she held with a minuscule amount of pride; she didn't exchange her humanity for power. But then, she wasn't driven to do such a thing, Ultear couldn't help but fear for the haunting moments Levy lived through.

The fight itself felt odd for those spectating, particularly the master. Many times he noticed the demon woman go for the kill, but in each charge she always hesitated. His children, thankfully, were knocked out, otherwise they wouldn't allow Ultear to fight alone, given how much of an impact the Dragneel family made on Fairy Tail, but from what he could hear; this fight felt personal. Still, to hear this young woman talk about the end of their kingdom, having to watch the end of all she knew in a couple of years, the master's heart went out to her. But this revelation of her sacrificing her humanity for her power only for it to be in vain greatly worried the master. What enemy could be so powerful that even with all their sacrifice, they couldn't win?

"Master, shouldn't we do something?" Makarov turned to his left to find a young tanned-girl beside him.

"Normally I wouldn't hesitate to act, but this isn't our fight child. This is a matter between to former comrades." Makarov stated. In all honesty, he wanted to help out, but found it best to let these two work out whatever problems they had. Of course, with the appearance of a demon, no doubt a regime of rune knights will be dispatched to apprehend her.

Another explosion erupted from the epicenter of their fight. A cloud of dust engulfed mostly around the crater the two women made in their battle. What shocked the onlookers, and Flare in particular, was when the dust cleared at the clear view of the two fighters showed the script mage with her dagger embedded into the Time Mage's shoulder. Again, a sliver of fear clouded the young mage's mind as she felt tears beginning to form. She wanted to help, but earlier events had proven that her attacks did nothing to affect the newcomer. All she could do at the moment was sit by and watch.

"We didn't abandon you!" Ultear screamed out, surprising the script mage for a second as she kicked the woman away. The script mage skid backwards a few feet before regaining her stance with her weapon raised up. She showed no reaction following her initial shock, but was clearly waiting for clarification. "Natsu was going to die if I didn't act quickly; I had to focus solely on my spell. Neither of us could've heard you, had we known you were near; Natsu would've done everything he could to force us back to get you. I'm only grateful that damned beast didn't come with us." Ultear explained, and while still angered at being left behind in their dead world, Levy's blade lowered ever so. She only now realized that her voice would've been drowned from the simultaneous casting of multiple spells. But, there was still a bit of anger in her, and she felt the need to release it. "And yet, that raises a bigger question; how exactly did you follow?" Before getting a chance to answer, within a matter of seconds, the dust had finally settled, allowing the two to realize that they were surrounded by Fairy Tail mages. "Lady Ultear, Demon lass. Both of you stand down, this battle has gone on long enough. I don't know what issues the two of you have, but for the sake of the city; cease your fighting." Makarov demanded.

"And if we don't?" The script mage tauntingly asked. To which the response were the mages each taking offensive stances, even the master readied himself for a fight.

Knowing she stood no chance against the master and this many mages, Levy clicked her tongue before swiping her dagger over her chest again.

"I see. **Dark Erciture:Wings!** " Four wings appeared from the runes on her back. She had only hovered a few feet from the ground, attempting to gain momentum in her escape. Although, she failed to notice the sight of an incoming fireball. The object seemingly crashed into her, pummeling the script mage hard into the gravel, further deepening the crater. The resulting impact sent a few mages flying backwards, only Ultear and the master seemed unaffected by the sudden entrance. That would be, however, until the silhouette of the unknown was made known. The sheer size of the newcomer was frightening enough, but once the dust had settled, again, the onlookers were staring with widened eyes at what they were witnessing. Those who had a front seat to this spectacle were more shocked by this new revelation. Beneath what appeared to be its front leg, Levy struggled a bit before opening her eyes and gasping at the sight of an actual, breathing; crimson dragon.

The beast was, quite possibly, as tall as the two story buildings around it, resembling an actual four-legged dragon from fictional stories. It growled lowly while slowly increasing the pressure of its leg on the demon. The woman grunted in pain as she tried again breaking free from this creature's grasps by attempting to embed her claws into his leg, only for them to clang against it as iron would against steel. The dragon bent its head down to get a better look at the demon woman, once the two were seeing eye to eye, the dragon's eyes widened as his nose twitched. Meanwhile, the demon woman took a moment before recognizing the eyes glaring down at her.

"Levy?" The dragon asked in an extremely deep tone.

"Natsu?" She whispered, her tone was easily one of relief, and something else that, for some reason, rubbed Ultear the wrong way. Putting that aside, the murderous aura she felt coming from Levy had ceased almost completely, giving the Time Mage a sense of relief.

As the dragon removed itself from atop the script mage, his tail curled in from the back, offering Levy assistance as she stood up. "You changed." She commented, taking in the sheer size of her former guild mate.

There was a soft chuckle that came from the over grown lizard as he too took in the new look his friend sported. "I could say the same of you." His mouth made little movements, but his words came out as clear as any speaker. The two shared a small chuckle before Levy's expression shifted to a softer tone.

"I never thought I'd see you again..." She turned her gaze downward as tears streamed down her cheek.

Knowing what he had to do, the Fire King engulfed himself in flames, the fire shrinking by the second before he emerged from the flames in his human form, pink hair and all. Seizing the opportunity, the script mage ran towards the Fire King and embraced him. It had been a long time since she felt the warmth of her friends, of any person for that matter, and Levy was determined to savor this moment. She dug her head into his chest, her tears ran slowly, and soon enough, she had begun crying openly unto the fire mage, clinging tightly to him as if afraid that if she let go; he'd disappear again.

Flare watched from afar, unable to comprehend what she just witnessed, not the dragon part mind you, but the fact that her father would so easily embrace a demon. While it really shouldn't have surprised her, she was still shocked to see the two embrace one another like this. The young mage took a moment to check on the other two mages, to her surprise, they had already awoken, and judging by their shocked expressions, they too witnessed what transpired.

 **-Dragneel house; A few hours later-**

A few hours following the incident in the town, Natsu had healed Ultear with the use of his magic; although, she was in no condition to repair the damages to the portion of the town where the battle was held. After discussing the matter with the mayor, the Fire King managed to convince the man to keep from sharing the information that a demon and dragon were spotted in Magnolia. Of course, there was a substantial payment to be made, along with a few restrictions for the newly arrival's activities. Simply put it, Natsu and Ultear were to keep a constant eye on Levy and assure another incident doesn't occur.

As of current events, Levy was resting peacefully in the Dragneel house with Natsu and Ultear watching over her. Natsu sat quietly at his friend's bedside, the Time Mage on the other hand was not all too calm at the moment. The reason being was that Levy had fallen asleep whilst holding on to the Fire King's hand. Clinging to him with a death grip. Though, the woman said nothing, rather, she could relate to the script mage in many respects. Although, her aching shoulder and hand made it all the more difficult to feel any empathy for the script mage.

What worried her, from his arrival to this point; Natsu's reaction to Levy's change. At first, Natsu seemed more focused on the fact that one of his old guild mates was still alive. But at the moment, his expression was stoic; as if he couldn't decide how to feel. Yes, he was glad to see his friend, but something about this bugged him. The issue of how she arrived was one thing, but her new power was what irked the Fire King. He could smell that scent of a demon, that was all too obvious, but there was something else about her that caught his interest. Something all too familiar.

His nose twitched, catching the Time Mage's attention as the two were now staring at the door. "It's not polite to spy, kids." Natsu playfully scolded, albeit silently.

The door creaked open slowly, in came the younger Dragneels, following them were four worried Fairy Tail mages Ultear had begun training; Erza, Gray, Cana, and a new mage by the name of McGarden, who at the moment was using her last name due to sharing her first with the sleeping demon. Meredy and Wendy embraced their mother, clinging tightly to her, though not too much as she was not fully healed.

"Are you alright lady Ultear?" McGarden asked in a meekly tone.

Ultear nodded, "I'm feeling better now, thank you for asking." She responded, receiving a faint grin from the Fairy Tail mages, each glad to know that their teacher was feeling better. Of course, now all eyes were on the slumbering demon, which, ironically, appeared peaceful as she slept.

Erza was perhaps the only one of the four to approach the slumbering demon. A tick of annoyance struck her as she took notice of the dragon and demon with interlocked fingers. Within her hand was the book Flare lent her, and what caused the woman to become aggravated. "Master Dragneel?" Erza kept her voice low, more out of respect for Natsu than the demon. "That woman said this book belonged to a clan...Drämak? And this book belonged to said clan." She gestured to the spell book. "Since you co-authored this I assume you two are members of said group?" The young mages all kept quiet, waiting for confirmation as to whether the Dragneel patriarch was a part of the same family as this demon.

Natsu showed no emotion for the first second before eventually nodding. The small mages, even his hatchlings were shocked. Erza seemed to want to ask something else but was interrupted when the older Fire mage spoke first. "We were, but the core members were dragon slayers, hence the name; Drämak, a nest of dragon slayers. In dragon tongue, it means dragon blood. Levy married one of my brothers, so essentially she married into the family. She and I were the ones that developed new forms of magic for the family. And before you ask; no, she wasn't always a demon. In fact, all of us were human at one point." His last statement caught not only the young mages by surprise, but even the Time Mage as well. The Fire King's eyes glanced towards the open window, his gaze focused on the passing clouds in the clear blue skies. "We knew a war was coming to our homeland, we did all we could to prepare ourselves, but we underestimated our enemy. We thought our numbers and our power would give us the advantage. We were wrong." Natsu's eyes reverted their focus to Levy. "What she did wasn't uncommon. In fact, it was a necessity if you wanted to survive." The young mages had a sense of fear in their expressions, neither would fathom a life where they had to change themselves entirely in order to just survive in a war torn land.

"Does that mean...you reformed yourself into a dragon?" Gray asked, hesitantly.

The Fire mage smiled faintly and shook his head. "No, I was already non-human for a while, took me a bit to finally come to terms with what I really was." The older mage responded. Again, he had surprised the little ones with his words; in all honesty, they didn't think he'd share this much with them, what with dragons and demons being a rarity these days. Although, the prospect of having a dragon on their side was something that greatly appealed to the master of Fairy Tail, the demon on the other hand was a wild card. Natsu rubbed the tip of his chin before grinning widely. "I'm telling you all this because I'm hoping you'll learn to see Levy, not for what she is, but for who she is. And maybe me too for that matter." The children each looked to him with a mixture of confusion and a hint of fear. "It'll be hard for people to accept what I am; some will even try to hunt me down for sport. I know for a fact that, while hardly making appearances nowadays, the prospect of both a demon and dragon living in Magnolia will cause quite a bit of hysteria. But I'm hoping that even after all of this, you won't treat my children any different than you did before."

"We would never treat your family any different!" Erza nearly shouted, she had taken clear offense to the idea of her teacher hinting that she or anyone else in Fairy Tail would treat the Dragneels any different solely for the fact that the patriarch is a literal dragon. In actuality, the Requip mage suspected that the town of Magnolia would think of having a dragon watching over their town, acting as its protector, to be appealing. Granted, there would be a select few who would still fear the dragon. But, having the mage as a friend rather than an enemy was overall beneficial. "You're our friend, there's no way the master or anyone in Fairy Tail would treat you any different because you're a dragon. And if they do; I'll stand with you." The redhead declared, almost with a puffed chest.

Levy stirred a bit before eventually arising from her sleep. "You're all too noisy, even your whispers." The demon mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. Her eyes glanced first to Ultear, then to the children with her. Her eyes than stuck to Erza and the book in her hand. Levy felt somewhat ashamed that she allowed herself to lose it over a book, but in her defense, she believed that book was all that was left of her family. She said nothing; rather, she kept a fixed stare on Erza, intimidating the young mage. The Requip mage stirred a bit, uncomfortable with having the woman's stare fixed on her.

"Redfox, don't scare the children a second time. Otherwise the master of Fairy Tail will personally see to a fitting punishment for the damage we caused to the town." Ultear muttered, this, momentarily, caused Levy to soften her gaze and turn to the open window. Although, Erza's eyes widened as she glanced to the name of author on the book's cover. "L-Levy Redfox?" Erza whispered. "You wrote this?" She asked the demon.

Levy didn't turn back, nor did she show any interest in answering the child's question.

Though, she was still holding Natsu's hand, his grip tightened, urging her to respond. She sighed lowly. "That's right, created a few of the spells in that book too." When she took a quick glance to the Requip mage, she noticed the expression of the young mages had shifted to one of awe.

"What types of magic do you know?" Now it was McGarden who became increasingly interested in this development. She had nearly brushed Erza aside when she approached the demon.

Redfox's expression had yet to change, she answered nonetheless. "I dabble in Ignition magic, a few forbidden spells, i recently acquired a form of lost magic, but my main magic use is Solid Script."

"Me too!" The young blunette shouted, almost gleefully. This caught the demon by surprise. "Can...can you teach me?!" She hesitated at first, quite possibly due to her shyness, but was still able to shout her request. After watching the woman go up against Ultear, she couldn't help but see herself in the woman, for some reason.

"No." Was the simple response the sent the little one's sudden excitement crashing down.

"B-b-but..." she tried to argue, only to be shot down again.

"I said no." Redfox responded, not allowing the little one to make her case. The older script mage had little interest in becoming a teacher for anyone, least of all to children of something she still didn't understand all that much. "Besides, there's something Natsu and I need to speak about before I even decide on whether to stay here or not."

"Can you at least think about it, please?" McGarden asked, somehow unwilling to take no for an answer. Rather than answer, Redfox shifted her gaze to the blue sky, seemingly ignoring her. In a surprising twist, the young blunette pouted. "I won't stop asking." She warned in an oddly cute way. Ultear was quick to take the children out of the room. The Time Mage had them wait in the living room while heading out to search for Flare, who had been missing since the whole ordeal had ended. Once the two former guild mates were alone, Natsu placed a muffle spell around the room, to assure whatever they spoke, remained in the room.

"Whatever happened to children being scared of demons?" She whispered quietly to herself.

The efficiency of the spell, as well as being able to cast it was something that impressed the script mage. Though, as Natsu would go on to explain their situation; the crossing of worlds and time, all of it was given within an hour, the conversations the two held over how to deal with the situation varied. From Levy wanting to do the same in their world, to Natsu arguing over starting a new life in this world. While their voices were muffled, their magic wasn't; often their magic pressures spiked enough to worry the children waiting patiently in the living room.

"This isn't our world Natsu, we shouldn't be here. Our home needs us." She argued, pacing back and forth in the middle of the room. "You could've gone back and done the same thing in our timeline, instead you choose to waste your time raising younger versions of ourselves and preparing them for a fight that, as you pointed out, might not happen at all!"

"Until you arrived, we had no way of knowing that there was a way to return to our world." He replied, calmly. Odd how the roles seemed to have changed, with Levy being the one eager to act and Natsu being the calm and logical figure. That change didn't go unnoticed. "But then, even if we did go back in time in our world, we'd be changing the timeline of our world, the Edolas world, and this one; a paradox for three separate worlds. Who knows what kind of consequences could arise from that. I know it's hard to accept; but our world is dead, there's nothing we can do at this point."

By this time, Levy had stopped pacing and, with much vigor, slapped the Fire mage. Her action didn't surprise him, but his words did leave her uneasy. "How can you say that? What happened to the Natsu I knew?! The one who never gave up, who always pulled off the impossible no matter the odds!?" She almost broke down again, but managed to keep herself composed.

Rather than react the way he normally would; the Dragon King kept calm demeanor. "And what happened to the Levy I knew; the always optimistic and cheery script mage? Where did this cold, crude, and constantly moody demon come from?" His tone rose a bit near the end, but reverted once again to a soft tone. "The answer to both is simple; we had to change to survive. I'm not judging you, nor do I intend to, but I don't think you're in any position to judge me." Natsu rose up, if his height wasn't intimidating enough, then his 'father glare' was surely making her uncomfortable. Natsu glanced to the forest, sighed softly, and then turned his gaze back to his friend. "I know you're not too keen on the idea, but give this world a try. It's better than having to go back to that wasteland." The mage's words felt as if they fell on deaf ears, but regardless of how much Levy had changed, even she knew that messing with time wasn't the smarted thing to do in any circumstance. And even if she went back to her world, she wouldn't stand a chance against Acnologia alone.

After calming down, Levy went into detail over how she spent her time trying to duplicate the spell Ultear cast that brought the two mages to this world. All the while, black dragon lingered in the area, seemingly in a similar fashion to a conqueror. Although, what it did was destroy, there was no sign of conquest anywhere. Apparently Ultear's spell created what the script mage described as a 'rift' between their world and this new one. They were connected through a small opening only a human with an immense amount of magic could open. Luckily enough, the script mage made sure to collapse the rift as she made her way through it, she wouldn't take a chance with Acnologia still flying across the wasteland. He might've been tempted to follow. A dangerous move it was to collapse the rift, considering that if she didn't make it across to this world in time, she would've been trapped in said rift. Although, she was under the assumption, at the time, that the rift was simply a warp pad to a different location on Ishgar.

-Meanwhile, forest training grounds-

Compared to the training earlier that day, the training grounds resembled a scorched earth, completely burned to ash. Flare had snuck away after the incident with the demon in Magnolia. She wasn't bothered by the fact that her father was on friendly terms with said demon, after all, she had heard many stories from both him and Ultear of many enemies he had made, and the majority of them had become close friends of his soon after. This newcomer, whoever she is, was not entirely occupying her mind. She made her peace with the possibility of more future enemies' soon becoming allies of her father, of that she somehow felt certain. What bothered the young Ignition mage was the fact that her strongest attack did next to nothing to the demon. While all her father needed were a tackle and a foot to keep the woman at bay.

The feeling of being useless creeped into her conscious once again. Keeping in mind, Flare knew that the newcomer had years of experience and was clearly one of many types of magic spells, but the feeling being unable to protect anyone left her with both a pang of guilt and a burning rage. Witnessing her father's power firsthand, and bearing his name, she refused to allow herself to be left on the sidelines. So, for the past few hours, she had come to the training ground to work on her accuracy and range. So far, both increased, almost as much as the amount of damage she caused. In her rage, she had leveled another patch of forest, doubling the size of the training ground.

What would've bothered her father about this, was not the amount of damage she caused, but of the fact that she was training while bandaged up. Something she knew he'd make a big deal out of.

"Flare." The Ignition mage snapped quickly to the newcomer, allowing her guard to drop once she realized who it was. Ultear had found her, which wasn't much of a surprise, there was still bloke smoke rising from the scorched debris. The woman was expressionless, as always. But, the young mage could tell she was saddened that she couldn't defuse the situation with Levy.

"You should be resting." Flare muttered while walking up to the time mage.

The woman showed a mild sense of shock at the fact that the redhead being worried over her wellbeing, soon after, she chuckled softly. "I could say the same of you." She gestured to Flare's bandaged arms. Said redhead didn't respond, rather, she turned back to the field and prepared to cast again only to have a bandaged hand grip hers. At first hard, later softening. Flare turned to face Ultear, the woman's expression had shifted to show her worry. "There's a difference between training to get stronger, and stupidly straining your body." She scolded. She kneeled down to Flare's level. "Understanding when you need to stop is important not just for yourself, but for those who depend on you. Your sisters would be extremely worried if their big sis was constantly pushing herself to near exhaustion." Her words, while not entirely making much of an impact, did reach the Ignition mage. Hesitantly, she relaxed her stance and nearly collapsed had Ultear not caught her. She had begun breathing heavily, much to the time mage's surprise over how long she was able to hold on to her façade. "How long have you been at it?"

"S-since...papa dealt...with the demon..." she muttered between her breaths.

Ultear smiled softly as she lifted the little one unto her back. "I see. Well, I guess that means you're hungry, right?" Ultear felt the young mage's head nod as her smile widened. "Alright, anything in particular?"

Flare took a minute to think it over before answering. "Coney stew, venison chop, mashed potatoes and gravy." She mumbled, realizing the amount of food she was craving. "And some veggies."

Ultear was mildly shocked at what the girl was craving before laughing just a bit louder. "I swear, there hasn't been a single Dragneel that's craved a 'small' dinner." Ultear commented with a proud smirk. "But, between you and your old man; at least you'll eat your greens. Wish I could get that overgrown lizard to do the same." This time, Flare chuckled softly as her arms wrapped around Ultear's neck. She laid her head against the woman while slowly drifting off. "You'll help me prepare dinner after washing up?" The time mage asked, to which the young mage nodded slowly.

"Yes mama." She mumbled whilst drifting off.

"Huh?" Ultear took a second to register what the little one had whispered, but wouldn't get a repeat as Flare had already drifted off. She had been caught off guard, and for once, she didn't seem to mind. With the arrival of Natsu's former guild mate, ironically, their task became easier; to raise mages to be as, if not, stronger than the mages raising them. With Levy's collected knowledge, they'd surely have an edge on creating various new types of spells, that is, if the stubborn woman would share anything. In that moment, a few pent up emotions surged in Ultear's mind. 'Crude, overdramatic, sassy.' She counted off in her head. 'I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd believe her to be purposely acting like her hus-'

…

…

The Time Mage walked home in silence, now understanding just a little bit of why the script mage's emotions seemed to be all over the place. For this time, and only this one time, Ultear felt nothing but pity for the young woman.

 **And there you have it, decided not to leave this chapter on a cliffhanger, but I will say that we will get to Gajeel in the next chapter, and another possible addition. Who could it be? Stay tuned for the next chapter.**

 **I'd like to quickly point out; yes I know what I did with Levy was really…how does the saying go? Out of Left-field? But there's a reason I chose her; no one expects it. (At least I hope no one did) plus, I have big plans for her character as this story goes on. Oh, and just so no one gets confused with the young and old version, I'll be referring to each by their surnames whenever they're mentioned together. Also, the bit with Natsu as a dragon, I'll go into detail in the next chapter.**

 **From here on, I'll be leaving small spoilers in the form of hints or riddles, but I won't use anything that will give away too much. For this chapter;** ** _Within their midst, a kin lies in wait._**

 **Thank you all for reading, until next time!**


	7. The Search Begins

It had been a month since Levy's arrival in Magnolia, and in that time, rumors of a dragon and demon being sighted in the town brought a rather large platoon of Rune Knights. Alongside the soldiers came a flock of tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the large beast. Though, rather than seeing a large lizard, or a horned demon, the most folks saw were shadows in the clouds, and roars far into the mountains. While the mayor had made a deal with Natsu, they didn't take into account a merchant's love for gossip, particularly when it helped increase their revenue. It remained confusing as to why folks would come around when the dragon was just but a rumor, well, apart from the citizens keeping quiet over the incident; their resident dragon did nothing so far to merit being outed to the world. Particularly since said dragon was related to a demon. And while the overgrown lizard was more peaceful than his 'sibling', there were few who would actually test the patience of the demon girl. Of course, in that single month, Levy had been placed in charge of the education of the children of Fairy Tail after the master had heard of the woman's extensive knowledge, and her role in her family's clan. She wasn't reluctant, considering she'd done teaching before, though; it wasn't exactly a 'children only' class. Granted, the majority of her students were kids, but she had the occasional teen and adult stopping by, picking up on anything she had to say. Some were curious as to what their resident demon would teach. She didn't exactly meet expectations for those expecting her to show forbidden or lost magic, though her lessons did involve some forms of basic education. For the most part though, the only issues facing the woman were those of a select few who were often found sleeping during her lessons. Much to her annoyance, those that were snoozing were ones required to attend her classes; Gray, Flare, and on occasion, Cana. Granted, the latter did take in much of her teacher's words, where she usually dozed off was during the mathematic sections.

"And remember, there's a clear difference when using the words; their, there, and they're. Each has distinct meaning, and must be used appropriately in written form. Who will give the class a definition of each and an example?" Red fox asked, to which the first hand to dart up was Mcgarden. While the enthusiasm was welcomed, Redfox did prefer the other students participate. Even so, she gestured to the younger version. "Ms. Mcgarden."

The young blunette rose up and answered. "The first word, their; is used when referring to something belonging to a group." Mcgarden's gleaming eyes were almost intoxicating, indicating she enjoyed these lessons. Not that Redfox could blame her, the two were the same in that regard. When the teacher nodded, the young blunette sat down. As her eyes glanced around, she noticed a few students dozing off, one of which was near close.

"Alberona." The brunette snapped awake, stiffening in her seat as the eyes of both the class and her instructor were on her. "The second word." Redfox gestured to the board where each word was written.

"Umm...the second word is used when...someone is referring to a location?" She answered hesitantly. Though, the small nod from Redfox eased the young brunette.

"And an example?" Before Cana had a chance to answer, a rather loud snore echoed in the room. The source; near the back, were Gray and Flare slumbering in their seats. While the small class snickered Redfox's expression had not changed, even when she walked to the back and stood in front of the two mages. Without a moment of hesitation, the older blunette slammed her palm down on Gray's desk, snapping the two awake, though, they were still drowsy.

"What's the big idea, assho-?" A wrong choice of words those were, as soon as they were uttered, a small collection of gasps escaped the lips of the students as a thick aura had engulfing the room. Both mages recoiled as they could see what appeared to be a darkened blue aura emitting from their teacher. There was another deadly glare being directed towards them, though, it was from a redhead in the front row.

"I'm hoping that was just a slip of the tongue...right?" Redfox's glare was more than enough to get them to nod, but with Erza glaring them down as well, their heads were still bobbing even after Redfox's returned to the lesson. Though, not before another few seconds passed with the students snickering at the duo in the back. "Now then, if there aren't any questions, class is dis-" and right as she was to dismiss the class, Mcgarden's hand shot up, causing a few students around her to groan heavily. They had become accustomed to this, but they always hoped the young blunette would keep to herself for once. "Yes, Mcgarden?"

"Umm, I have a question; if Mr. Dragneel is a dragon, how old is he?" The whole class was now staring at their instructor with curious expressions. They had been told fairy tales of dragons that could live for thousands of years, but those stories were just that; stories. No one could prove that theory seeing how there aren't many dragons to study.

Although, Redfox actually took a minute to think it over, possibly indicating she either didn't know, or that the Fire Dragon King was possibly older than she knew of. "I would say...over four hundred years old." The children were now with widened eyes and gaped mouths. For one, it was obvious that Natsu looked nothing close to being that old. "But, to be honest, he might be older than that, and he was technically dormant for the majority of his time asleep." Redfox added, causing the children to stare at her with even more curiosity and confusion that before.

"What do you mean; dormant?" This time, it was Gray who asked the question.

"I can't answer that; you'll have to ask Natsu. Oh, and Gray..." Redfox responded while gesturing to the floor where a pile of clothing lay. "...your clothes."

Another round of snickering followed as the ice make mage was gathering his cloths.

"And if that's all, class is dismissed." As soon as those words were uttered, a majority of the students hurried off, leaving the room partially empty. This wasn't anything new, Redfox knew her students were always invested in the subject material, especially when mathematics were involved. Though, unlike most schools, she only regarded the basics as mandatory, anything else was optional. Which, unsurprisingly, Mcgarden and Scarlet were quick to sign up for those extra classes.

As she began preparing to leave, before the demon stood a trio of Fairy Tail mages. Without showing too much emotion, she spoke. "Ms. Scarlet, Mcgarden, Alberona; was there something you needed?"

Mcgarden was the first to speak up, holding a familiar book in her hand that she, presumably, had borrowed from Flare. "Ms. Redfox, I was curious about...Drämak."

There was an eerie silence following the mention of the dragon slayer clan, something Redfox was sure she wanted to speak of in front of these girls. Though, there wasn't a mandate that stated she had to tell anyone anything. Although, knowing Mcgarden; the young blunette would come up with theories or ask as many times as she could to get an answer.

"What do you want to know?" The young ones seemed almost shocked that the demon was willing to give them an answer, considering she would've told them to buzz off at the mention of her family.

Unprepared that she would actually get to ask, Mcgarden fumbled with words, until Erza stood in. "We wanted to know how many dragon slayers were in your family. Master Dragneel spoke of the core members being dragon slayers."

Redfox placed her fingers to her chin and thought of a way to explain this to the girls without giving too much away. "At the creation of the clan, there were seven of dragon slayers. And each were the heads of their households...well, it'd be more accurate to say that under Drämak, there were seven families. House Raijinshi, Cobra, Eucliffe, Cheney, Marvell, Redfox, and Dragneel. The latter being the alpha of the nest. You have to understand; dragon slayers are partially draconic by nature as well. So for them to gather together under the same banner is quite the achievement, especially considering they were all enemies when they first met." The small ones were surprised to hear that Natsu's family was comprised of people, who were once his adversaries, a trait Makarov openly admired about the dragon slayer. And something he had hoped his guild members would learn from as well.

"What elements did they have control over?" Alberona asked, her curiosity increasing with each passing minute.

"Respectively; Lightening, Poison, Light, Shadow, Wind, Iron, and Fire." The instructor responded.

"And they were all a pain in the ass!" All eyes snapped to the door where the Fire Dragon Ling stood with a toothless grin. "Well, except Marvell." He added whilst walking towards the small group.

"That's cause you all had a soft spot for her." Redfox threw in with her own faint grin.

"Can you blame us, she was the youngest...kind of." He added in, almost hesitantly. "Wasn't she the same age as Cheney and Eucliffe?"

"Yea, but after what happened in..." she trailed off, though the dragon slayer caught on pretty quick, surprisingly.

"Right, I almost forgot about that. Seven years in the blink of an eye." Almost as if they had forgotten they had company, the two began reminiscing over their past adventures. Rather than interrupting, the three mages kept silent, listening on as the two spoke of their exploits. Erza and Cana being the ones most invested in the stories. It didn't last long as Natsu was quick to dismiss the girls after a while. While a bit dismayed that they couldn't speak to their teacher a bit more, they were more than happy with the info they received that day. Learning a bit more about Natsu and Redfox was almost always interesting, especially the way Ultear described him and how he acts now.

After assuring the two were alone, the blunette turned to her friend with a faint smile. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of an afternoon visit?"

"I've been thinking about something for a while, and I finally came to the conclusion; I want to rebuild our family." Natsu knew better than to beat around the bush, especially around Levy. Now, all that was left was whether she'd join him or not.

The blue-haired demon's smile almost instantly vanished, replaced with a confused expression. Then just as quickly, her face had dawned a widened shock, along with a crimson blush. She recoiled, hesitantly. "W-w-wait a sec...y-y-you're not thinking what I think you're thinking?...are you?" Before her eyes flashed images she had thought were long since buried.

"I am, and I need your help to do it." Natsu was slightly confused as to why she was blushing, though, he was still determined to rebuild their clan. Even if the majority of them were going to be children.

"What about Ultear? Wouldn't she be the best candidate to help you?" Levy argued, a sudden pang in her chest kept her from flashing any specific images.

"She's agreed to this as well, all of us together will be a part of this."

Levy's blushed deepened as even more images were now being created to suit the scenario. "H-h-hold on, there's no way I'm doing anything with that...woman."

"I know you two have your differences, but I need both of you two work with one another if we're going to go searching for the other slayers and bringing them to Magnolia."

Almost in an instant, the blush on Levy's face vanished, replaced by an untold amount of embarrassment. For a moment, the pinquette couldn't understand why his friend was blushing, and then it hit him. Realizing the context of what he just said, Natsu as well shared in the awkward silence, unable to say anything. Though, there was a sliver of teasing he had in mind. He knew better than to mess with a demon, but his playful nature when around his former guild member was too overwhelming. Also, most would always assume that just cause he wasn't so smart in the past, that he'd never pick up on certain misunderstandings. "So...were you really thinking of-"

"Shut up!" Levy nearly shouted.

"I mean, the three of us-"

"Natsu, I swear to the gods i will pummel you." Her threat came with a menacing aura, her fists tightening as the grin had yet to cease from the Dragon King's lips.

"That a kink of yours?" Without a moment's hesitation, Natsu was struck with a fist to his gut, sending the slayer flying backwards, breaking the door tot eh classroom and landing a few yards away. The door had come off its hinges, landing on the downed slayer. "Ok, no more teasing." Came a groaning voice from beneath the wood door. As the slayer regained his strength and arose from the ground, he found his comrade already standing in front of him in her new form; a demon. The fact that his friend was a demon still bothered the slayer. While it was true that many mages did unspeakable things that would've normally had them shun as outcasts in the war. Levy's transformation into a demon was something he never expected, more so the type of demon she had become. It dawned on the Dragon King what his friend had achieved, or more correctly, what she had become; an Etherious. How she had achieved this, she would not say, nor did she appear to want to speak of it at all. Though, she seemed accustomed to referring to herself as a demon. A human becoming an Etherious wasn't impossible, what was required to complete the transformation was the issue; Ethernano. The demons from the books of Zeref were created purely out of Ethernano, a pure and scarce power source. From what she did tell the pinquette, little as it was; during her time working for the Magic Council, she managed to get her hands on some sensitive documents regarding the Etherious demons. Other than that, she never did say how she was able to reform her body, nor did she disclose what other secrets she 'acquired' from the council.

The demon woman kneeled down; she showed no anger in her eyes, but rather, a hint of sorrow and regret. Of what? Natsu didn't count on her saying, nor would he push her to talk about it. She fiddled with her claws for a bit before facing the Dragon King. "You know, I always wondered if what I did was the right choice; to change myself entirely in order to have an edge on the battlefield." She muttered, her fingers again trying to close, only to clang against one another and preventing a fist to be formed. "It has its perks, but keeping up my human form takes a toll on my magic reserves. And we both know what would happen if a demon was suddenly seen taken strolls and casually walking about in Fiore."

Natsu nodded as he placed the wooden door aside and sat down on the dirt. Luckily for them, the school Redfox worked at was near Fairy Hills, so there weren't many civilians or Rune Knights roaming around. So for the moment, neither had to worry over the demon being discovered.

"I just want to let you know; if you're going to rebuild Drämak, I have three conditions." Levy held up three claws, her eyes keeping contact with the Dragon King's. She counted down, "If you bring them in, I handle their education and their training."

"That seems fair; you'd have the same role as before, huh?" Natsu commented, agreeing to her first demand almost instantly. Although, given Levy's extensive knowledge, it wasn't entirely much of a debate as to who was best qualified for the position.

"Second, if you're bringing in Gajeel, I want to raise him." This next demand was a bit more than the last, considering Levy volunteered to raise the younger version of her husband. While Natsu couldn't determine if the blunette was comfortable with this plan, he, albeit mildly hesitant, agreed to the second demand.

"And lastly…" For her last condition, Levy's claws cupped the Dragon Kng's cheeks, while her face was non-expressive; a blushing mess was what could be identified of the Dragon Slayer. "…you." Her third demand sent a massive chill up his spine, as well as awakening another aspect. Before getting the chance to ask, the demon spoke first. "I may be a demon, but I'm also a woman. Seven years of solidarity have taken their toll on me. I don't care if you're aiming to be that time hag's hubby, what I want is someone who will help me relieve some stress. Whenever I call, however I want it, and wherever I please. Accept all three of my conditions, and I'll follow you wherever you need me." Levy finished by lightly tapping the tip of Natsu's nose, she rose up, lifted the wooden door and made her way back to the school to fix the door.

All the while, as the Dragon King was still taking in the rather aggressive nature his 'kin' seemed to have adopted in her time as a demon, the slayer couldn't picture the old Levy he had grown up with, what he saw instead was a woman shaped by war, and still coping with loss. The pinquette arose and began his tread back home, which, after the arrival of Levy, had grown in size with an added branch to the side containing the bedrooms. With the extension came four new rooms, and a two story building beside the Dragneel home dedicated solely to being a library, where the first floor were for common books to pass the time. The second floor being used to store books that were mainly read by Natsu and Levy seeing as only the two could read the dragon language. While the new rooms were a welcomed addition, as was the library, the demon woman was still at odds with Ultear.

Although, it was a relief for the pinquette to see Ultear and Flare growing closer with one another, he wished he could find a way to end the squabble between the two adult mages. Still, in the month since Redfox arrived, Natsu had been taking Ultear to dinner, spending more time with the woman, and generally helping her when it came to the kids, particularly at bedtime. All in all, the two progressed in their relationship; these demands that Levy brought up had a chance of crumbling all of that in an instant.

 **-Next day, Fairy Tail Guildhall-**

Much as it was on a daily basis, the mages of Fairy Tail were partying loudly and merrily. Mostly in part that the guild had a new member, one that, while not the Dragneel Makarov had intended in persuading to join his guild, was happy to have her nonetheless. Of course, said newest member was currently engaged in a brawl with the ice mage, something that surprised no one at this point. Flare had received her guild mark on her right shoulder in red; the girl was bouncing with glee as she showed her guild mark to her younger siblings. Both of which were in awe that their elder sibling was now part of a guild. Sitting at the bar were two rather uncomfortable individuals; Ultear, and Redfox in her human form. The time and the script mage weren't on the friendliest terms, particularly since not too long ago they had tried to kill one another. Of course, at the moment, neither could openly curse the other as Meredy was sitting comfortably in Ultear's lap. While Wendy, who almost quickly, warmed up to Levy enough that she was sitting on the older blunette's lap while reading. Another reason these two found discomfort in where they stood were the consistency of furniture, food, and mages being tossed around during the brawls. Granted, they were reminded of the old Fairy Tail, but at the moment, with two blissfully unaware children sitting on their laps, they had to keep a constant eye on any incoming debris, lest the girls be hit by accident.

Amidst the chaos, Gray and Flare landed in front of the two women, Erza running up to them not far behind. "Both of you stop! You're guildmates, you shouldn't be fighting!"

"Buzz off, Erza!" The two yelled at the armored redhead. In a fit of anger, Scarlet prepared to draw her blade, only to have a hand grip hers. She glanced to the owner of the hand, finding Redfox with a mild glare staring her down.

"There are better ways to get people to stop fighting. For example." Redfox carefully placed Wendy on her seat as she rose up and walked calmly over to the two bickering children. "Gray, Flare." The woman called out calmly, receiving faint glares from the two mages.

"What?!" Only for those glares to subside as the guild had witnessed something they never imagined they'd see; Redfox smiling, in an unsettling manner. Her expression showed joy, and yet the malicious intent was easily felt. The two young mages, as well as any who were gazing at Redfox's expression.

"I don't care who started the fighting, but you're both going to end it and act like proper friends, right?" At the ending of her words, her eyes opened ever so slightly, causing the blood of any unlucky enough to catch a glimpse to run cold. Almost instantly, Gray and Flare had their arms hooked over one another's necks whilst sweating profusely.

"Y-y-yes, ma'am. The best of friends. Right buddy?!" the ice mage asked, only for Flare to raise her fist high whilst not breaking eye contact with Redfox.

"Aye!" Flare shouted, almost robotically. Redfox turned back to Erza, her expression saying something along the lines of; "And that's how you do it." Needless to say, Scarlet had taken the lesson to heart as she practiced it on her fellow guildmates whom were causing even more mayhem around the guild hall, earning a similar, but less effective response.

Meanwhile, on the second level of the guild, overlooking the guildhall, Makarov and Natsu sat at a viewpoint that allowed them to observe the mayhem down below. While Makarov was worrying over the cost in damage that would haunt him, Natsu's mind focused on the memories of his former guild's brawls, and how he was the one to start most of them. Of course, there was a hint of pride in him when he noticed that Flare had done the same here; causing a brawl. Of course, there was Erza to knock some common sense and fear into their hearts. But all in all, the Fire Dragon King gazed upon the sight with nostalgia.

"There's never a moment of peace here." The Dragon King commented.

"Of course not, and while I'd prefer the destructiveness tone down a little bit, I wouldn't want my guild any other way." Makarov stated with a widened grin.

"By the way, I thought this floor was reserved for S class mages only."

The old master waved his hand dismissively at Dragon King before replying. "Oh that, well, I assumed a dragon's power far exceeds an S class' abilities. And even so, what's the harm in a drink amongst friends?"

"Can't argue with that." The pinquette replied, taking a sip from his cup before gazing back down to the guild. Unbeknownst to anyone but Ultear, the Dragon King had thoughts of joining the guild, but his loyalty to his own guild kept him from joining. Although, today was something special for him; his little hatchling joined Fairy Tail, and was determined to surpass him. it filled the Fire mage with pride when Flare would challenge him to a small duel, knowing full well she couldn't win, but she'd still try regardless. Ever so slowly, Flare had become almost as strong as Gray in terms of magic, physically; she seemed to have the upper hand.

Wendy seemed more focused with the medical books Redfox lent her, spending her free time to study or play with her sibling, meanwhile, said sibling would spend her time with Ultear, or with Wendy. The younger pinquette also wanted to surpass her father, though; she had her own manner on achieving this goal, through a form of magic that would give her an edge against her siblings. She wouldn't say how she'd do this, only that she would someday become as strong, if not stronger than her father. Which, while Natsu was extremely proud of, he couldn't help but wonder how his three hatchlings would react to more Dragon Slayers coming into the fold, especially since he intended to bring them into his family.

As the celebration continued, the doors to the guildhall opened, a small group of mages made their way past the mayhem and up to the counter, each had slumped over the counter of the bar and released heavy sighs. "Rough day?" Redfox asked, mildly interested, but with enough curtesy to hear these youngins over their mission.

"You could say that." The apparent leader of the group mumbled. "We spent two weeks in Solsthrain, and we couldn't find the damned target."

"Solsthrain?" Wendy asked, having never heard the name before in her geography books.

"A mining town, just near the border of Fiore and Seven. They've been having problems with missing shipments, so we went out to find the thief, but they always somehow manage to slip past us and with large amounts of ore too. The weirdest part; we found an ore chunk that had been bitten into." Another member pitched in, ordering something strong to get over the failure of their mission.

"A mining town, huh?" Levy throws in, fully disinterested in the conversation.

"Yea, an Iron mine." The leader muttered before ordering a drink similar to his teammate, unaware of the widened eyes of both the two women on the first floor, and the Dragon Slayer on the second. Without needing to think twice on it, a new destination was set for these mages; Solsthrain, with any luck, it might be the intended target they're looking for.

 **-Meanwhile, near the Seven and Fiore border-**

As the small bustling town by two kingdom's borders, the mines of Solsthrain, almost as soon as the mages left, for some reason suddenly had their problem with missing ore disappear. Although, once news of the missing ore subsided, the talk of the town was now of the rumor the mages brought with them of what they witnessed in their home town just before leaving; a demon woman, and an actual dragon fighting. The two had come to some form of resolution and left the town without causing much damage, but by then, the people of Solsthrain spoke of this rumor nonstop. Whether it was true or false, it gave the people something to pass the time. Although, little did a few know, a youngling had just left the small town. All their worldly possessions; their clothes and a few jewels, were being carried in a small knapsack as the young boy made his way across the terrain.

 _'_ _A dragon, huh? True or not, I'm gonna see for myself.'_ His intent; to see if these rumors of a dragon being sighted were true. And if they were, he had a few choice words to exchange with this dragon.

 **Hey everyone, I know this chapter is really short, but I swear I'll be posting longer chapters, just wanted to let you all know I'm still here, continuing the story and keeping up with life in the process. The reason I haven't been updating in the time span that I wanted was because of work, a new relationship, and just trying to make sure I don't fall apart under the stress.**

 **But enough of the author's rant, and before anyone starts worrying that I'm gonna make this a small harem; no, I even said it in previous chapters, this primary pairing has been decided, this is just to throw some drama in the mix. Anyways, hope you guys weren't disappointed with the chapter, thank you all for reading and until next time. Ciao!**


	8. A New Slayer

Near the kingdom border, soaring high above the clouds; a crimson dragon fly over the many roads leading out of the border towns, particularly the mines of Solsthrain. After having learned the slayer had moved on long ago, the Fire King decided to search the surrounding area, following the main trail towards what could be a nearby town. Apparently, news of a dragon bring spotted by the kingdom's borders led to an increase of Rune Knights patrolling around the border of Seven. While traveling merchants and farmers kept their eyes towards the skies nowadays, the dragon in question kept itself hidden in the clouds. Oddly enough, as the Fire King approached what appeared to be a small city, he noticed a gathering of storm clouds overhead. The oddity being these clouds were not moving, they simply hovered over the small city. As he approached, he soon took notice of the seemingly endless rain pouring down. A familiar scent caught the Fire King's attention, and as he flew ever closer, that scent grew ever faint, the weather being the cause for losing the scent. While irritated, Natsu kept his course, knowing if he went in in his human form, the Iron Slayer would be harder to find.

Once the town was well within sight, he descended from the clouds, the wind beneath him made the forest shudder, leaves scattered about, beasts of all size scurried in all directions. Not long after his reveal from the bosom of the clouds a chorus of bells rang across the valley as he could hear faint screams emitting from the small city. With his enhanced sight, he could see the people scurry into buildings, doors and windows closed and boarded in haste. Livestock and animals were rushed into their respective stalls, armed guards lined at the entrance to the city, a hundred so far, more poured in from their other posts. From what he could see, it appeared as whatever mages in the city were preparing to face off against him as well. A small number, a dozen or so, and from what the crimson dragon could sense, these weren't even close to being half as powerful as S-class mages. Knowing he couldn't enter the city without causing a panic...or rather, more of a panic than he already did, Natsu descended lower, intending to land a few yards in front of the small army. What caught his attention was a formation of soldiers at the helm of the defensive unit. Their armor consisted with that of the royal guard in Crocus. Given what occurred in Magnolia, it didn't surprise him to see the king's guards here. Of course, he wondered why this city contained a large number of them. As he landed, he remained idly, allowing only the rain and mud beneath his feat to touch his scales. The small army flinched; he could see the fear in the eyes of the grunts lined at their city's gates, waiting for something to happen. Their shields held in front, spears aligned and prepared for a charge. Though, given the circumstance, these soldiers weren't exactly a stern wall. Many were shaking, others wavered, as if by merely blinking these grunts would drop their weapons and run. Then again, why wouldn't they? A dragon, rumored to have been spotted on the coast, and now one standing before a small detachment of their kingdom's forces.

It took a bit, but the entire mobilize force was approximately five hundred strong, that included the royal guard and small group of mages. From whatever way you could look at this, even with half a million soldiers; the crimson dragon was well within his own to scorch this patch of land within half a day. These soldiers couldn't hope to make so much as scratch the dragon's hide, and yet, he did nothing more than sit idly a few yards from the mages, his eyes glancing around.

Natsu sniffed around, his nose twitched when he caught a glimpse of his prey's scent, and something else included. Something familiar. From the moment the rain hit him, he could feel something, almost as if in the rain itself. He felt sadness, bitterness, and resent. There was a theory as to why he felt magic in the rain, but the dragon couldn't go into the city and search. Not as he was, and it was far too late to change into his human form and waltz into the city. Still. He was impressed, as soon as he left the comfort of the clouds, watch towers gave away his location, allowing for the city to prepare for his arrival.

Regardless, knowing he was probably risking his skin, Natsu lifted his head into the air, and released a mighty roar. A few soldiers flinched; many had started to retreat before their commanding officer shouted to them to stay in formation. The mages, collectively, almost broke into a run as well. To any, this looked as if the dragon had intended to intimidate them, but for the dragon, and any who knew of their culture; his roar was a rally call. As soon as the small army had regrouped, another roar echoed in the clouds, though, this was not the reply of another dragon. Rather, something else acknowledged the dragon's call. Another, softer roar, from within the city caught the attention of the soldiers. A majority seemed to be panicking, believing there to be something in their city that was of value to the dragon. And if the stories were anything to go by; there was no way anyone wanted to be in the way of a dragon and its goal.

In a surprising twist, one of hooded mage stood forward, those around urging the mage to return to their lines, particularly two other hooded mages, but instead, this individual continued forward. Stopping only when they could feel the heat from the dragon's breath hit their face, which was still a few feet away mind you. From where they stood, the dragon appeared not to notice, or care for the mage in front of him, but rather awaiting for another response from his call.

"Hey!" Almost as if instantly, Natsu's eye twitched in both a slight sense of nostalgic fear and utter annoyance as he very clearly recognized the voice calling to him. His head turned ever so slowly to meet the gaze of the teen glaring at him. Although, even with her hardened stare, the Fire King could see a tangent of fear in her eyes. Of course, she was not the only one exhibiting fear. The field was ripe with the stench. It was then that he realized; most of the soldiers and mages out here were probably plucked from their homes, young boys and men with little to no training. Farmers, blacksmiths, and florists who have no business on the battlefield, and now a little over five hundred stood before him and the city. Natsu had no intention of killing any of these soldiers, nor did he intend to start a skirmish. What he wanted was inside the city, but in order to get to the Iron Slayer, he'd need to get through the current blockade. And of course, the young mage in front of him. "The hell does your scaly hide want with the city?" As peaceful like as possibly, unfortunately.

He lowered his head to her level, the bravado she displayed almost quickly dissipated once he had given her his attention. "You are either extremely brave, or incredibly foolish, young mage. Regardless of whichever it is, my business is not with you. So…" His wings extended and with restrained strength, rushed forward, creating a gust of wind strong enough to send the young mage flying backward. "Be gone from my sight."

The young mage's hood fell off as she landed just a few feet away from the armored lines. The other hooded mages rushed to her aid, with one yelling her name as she ran to her fallen comrade. "Mira!" Although, they had little time before a royal knight approached the dragon, he had removed his helmet, and while he was rather young, Natsu was able to recognize this particular individual, and also put two and two as to why this city had a rather large number of royal knights present.

"Dragon, I am Arcadios, chief of the king's royal guard. What business do you have in Lavender?" The man spoke, his voice clear as day, though it almost felt like it would break simply by the fact that he was addressing a rather large, possibly ancient, and powerful beast.

"As I told the young mage, I have no business with you, nor do I have any qualms with your people. My business is my own, speaking of which..." Now, Natsu could've easily told the royal guard chief that he was seeking a dragon slayer, but considering the circumstance, and the misunderstandings that could've arisen from it, he choose to be subtle. His eyes focused on the gates to the city, as did Arcadios. They heard faint yelling from the city, what occurred next was enough to even surprise the dragon. The gates were opening, from the inside. The soldiers near the back repositioned themselves, no one was supposed to open the gate, whoever did, most likely, was the one who responded to the dragon's roar. As the grunts prepared for a fight, they were instead met with two children. A black-haired boy with a few piercings, soaking long hair, and beading crimson eyes. The child behind him was smaller, though, her blue hair and magical aura was what caught Natsu's attention. The two children, slowly, made their way past the armed battalion that had made way for the young ones to pass through. As they drew closer to the large beast, the blue-haired child hesitated; grabbing hold of the black-haired boy's arm and holding him back. As the boy attempted to get her to continue onward, he barely noticed that the dragon had grown tired of waiting and had made his way to them. His only hint that the large beast was behind him; was that the blue-haired girl's eyes had widened when she noticed how close the beast was.

As he turned to face this crimson beast, his heart skipped a beat when he realized that it had grown tired of waiting and came to him instead. The young boy froze in place, unable to move. He had choice words for this dragon, but he didn't think he'd actually come face to face with it. Natsu took his time analyzing the two children before him, he knew these two would become essential in the future, but he wondered how things would turn out both of them were brought into the fold early on. With the boy seemingly at a loss for words, Natsu decided to spark a conversation.

"You responded to my call, Slayer?"

The boy nodded.

"Then custom dictates a show of curtesy; your name, Slayer."

"Gajeel, son of Metalicana." The boy announced.

"I am Natsu, Son of Igneel." Natsu responded, his head lowered to the level of the Iron Slayer "It has been too long since I had the pleasure of speaking with more of my own kind."

"K-kind?" Gajeel appeared confused as to why the dragon was referring to him as he would kin.

"Yes, you are a Dragon Slayer, and therefore partially draconic…hmm, now that I think about it, that title feels self-defeating." The crimson dragon mumbled that last bit to himself, ignoring the fact that there was an army behind them, confused and baffled as to how easily the attention of the dragon was taken by these two kids. "But, that is a discussion for another day. Where is Metalicana?"

Hearing his dragon's name made the Iron Slayer tense, the Fire King knew how much the dragons meant to their slayers, but he needed to give off the impression of being oblivious to whatever plan their parental lizards had in motion. If only for this moment.

"I don't know." Gajeel responded. "He…disappeared."

"Hmm, you as well…" Natsu muttered, keeping silent only until Gajeel was looking at him again, this time with a confused expression. He had thought his father had left him for something he did, but now, it appeared he was not the only one whose dragon had disappeared on him. And from the looks of things, this dragon was searching for answers as to why this was occurring. "You are not alone in this, my hatchling's mother, Grandine, has also disappeared."

"You're hatchling?" The boy sounded both surprised and extremely curious. How could he not be? It was one thing to see another dragon, but to hear of more slayers like him. Although, now that he thought of it, this dragon's hatchling might just as well be another dragon as well.

"Yes, another slayer, like yourself." Of course, he knew now. "And I can only assume there are other slayers whose dragons have also disappeared. If that's the case…something bigger is at play, and there is much to be done. With that, my business here is done, it has been quaint speaking with you child of Metalicana, but I am not spending any more time near this city than I have to. You will come with me, and I shall help you search for your father, and if you have the strength, I can show you a few tricks most slayers are unaware of." Natsu didn't plan to wait nor except any arguments from the slayer, he had looked for an entire week, and was exhausted. He wanted to return home with the boy and spend some time with his family. As he had begun to spread his wings, preparing to take off, until…

"Wait!" he glanced down, seeing the young slayer with a sliver of desperation in his eyes. "I'll go, but you're also taking her with us!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow, lowering his head to the same level as the iron slayer. He had planned to take just the young, through his own means of course. But he was somewhat surprised that the boy was including what could be assumed was the girl behind him. Normally, the Fire King would simply just take the boy with him and be done with it. Of course, nothing is ever simple or easy. "And pray tell, why? I would take you; and have a slayer amongst a nest of his own. But what of the girl, what would become of a human child in a nest of dragons? My attention will be focused solely on your fellow slayers, and my little ones."

Gajeel gripped her hand and stood his ground against the crimson beast. "I'll watch over her!" For a second, there was only silence, as it appeared the rain had stopped. From where he stood, Natsu could've sworn he saw a smile form on the young girl's lips as she held the slayer tighter whilst keeping her head down.

The Fire King let out a faint growl as he made eye contact with the slayer, assuring the boy was under increasing intimidation. The effects were immediate, his bravado was crumbling, but his grip on the girl's hand didn't cease. "Take head boy, a dragon/slayer, whatever be it the case, any that I take under my wing is seen as kin. If you are to bring this one with you, she is to be your responsibility, but your loyalty is to your kin first. No exceptions. Do I make myself clear?" He growled, receiving a rather furious nod from the Iron Slayer. "And you…" he turned to the young girl, who almost jumped out of her skin upon being called by the dragon. "Look at me when I speak to you." the young girl, hesitantly, turned her gaze to the looming beast standing over her. "Do you understand what I've said so far?" When she nodded, the Fire King sighed, realizing he had instilled fear where he least wanted. "And what is your name, child?"

"J-J-Juvia." She responded, while meekly, the dragon heard clearly. Natsu raised his wings up and lowered his body. The two children were confused, that is until they heard the beast order them to "Climb on, while the day is still young." Without hesitation, the boy helped the girl unto the dragon and afterwards climbed on behind.

"Wait!" Natsu's attention was now on Arcadios who, in all honesty, he had forgotten was present. Though, he was not alone as a small platoon of royal guards approached from the blockade. "Dragon, do you expect me to just allow you to leave with those two children." Before his soldiers could surround the over grown lizard, he had already lifted himself off the ground.

"I do indeed." He responded, followed by a harsh glare "And if you and your men value your lives, you would be wise to let a dragon and their kin be." He snarled, easily intimidating the grunts, but not the chief of the guard. Though, he cared little for him now, Natsu had what he wanted, and was prepared to take off, just before turning his gaze towards the mage he had blown away earlier. The young girl noticed his stare and stiffened. "I have few times been taunted in the manner you have shown, and the few that I have were by those who were indeed worthy of my respect and admiration." The dragon's words surprised the lot of those watching, particularly the young mages riding on his back and the white haired mage still sitting on the ground. "I expect great things from you child, until then, farewell, Strauss." With widened eyes, the white haired mage jumped to her feet, unsure whether she had heard the beast call her by her family name. In a fit of rage, she called out to the dragon as he was making his way south.

"Hey! Get back here! You…Salamander!" She ran after the beast, though futile as it had already reached the forest and returned to the safety of the clouds. Shortly after, it appeared as though the city had partially lifted its lockdown; the soldiers began returning to their homes whilst the Royal Guards made their way to the city's center. All the while, three mages stood in the middle of the muddied field, their eyes set to the direction towards which the dragon flew. The smallest of the trio walked up to the white haired mage.

"S-sis, are we gonna follow that thing?" She asked, feebly. Unsure of whether following her sibling in this endeavor would be worth the risk.

"What choice do we have? It knew our family name, it knows about us…somehow. We'll get our answers. One way or another." She muttered the last bit to herself, placing her hood back on before darting into the forest, her siblings not too far behind.

Hours had passed since the crimson dragon had departed from Lavender. While keeping himself hidden in the clouds, soaring above the forests of Fiore, the Fire King remained quiet after finding the young Iron Slayer. Truth be told, he had only expected to find the boy, but to find his companion so early on, he wondered how Ultear and Levy would react, especially the latter. Glancing back, he noticed the excited expressions of the little ones, particularly the blue haired girl. In this whole ride, he kept his attention focused solely on getting home. When he didn't expect it, a sound echoed in his ear, one he didn't think he'd hear from the little one's riding on his back; laughter. While his impression didn't exactly give off any warm sentiment, he still found it amusing that these two would find some joy in this. Still, there were some things he wanted to cement with these two, especially since they would soon be a part of his family once they reached home. As carefully as he could, Natsu managed to set down at the base of a mountain. He chose this particular spot for a small cave nearby. Calmly, he gestured the little ones off, to which they begrudgingly, albeit silently, complied. As the children stepped into the ground, they quickly turned back to the crimson beast. Before anything else, he gestured the two to sit, to which they immediately complied. After which, the Fire King had sat in front of them, his eyes shifting slowly between the two.

"I understand you have questions, but I must have you understand something, Gajeel." Upon hearing his name, the young slayer stiffened. "At this moment, all I have as to the disappearance of your father is mere speculation, and nothing more. We will discuss more later, for now, I want you two to gather wood. I will search for dinner. Stick together, and don't stray far from this cave." Without waiting for a response, the beast lifted itself off the ground and flew into the forest in search of food. Leaving the two young mages to go and search for the firewood the dragon had asked for.

The two searched silently, neither had much to say. Being taken by a dragon was one thing, but to taken to his nest, to live amongst its own. While Gajeel seemed excited with the idea, Juvia was of a different mind. She had only ever heard of dragons from fairy tales and old wives tales, when rumors of a dragon being spotted in one of Fiore's cities, she assumed it was just a rumor. Although, when it suddenly appeared like it did; descending from the heavens followed by the frantic ringing of bells across the valley; she didn't know what to believe anymore. Of course, along with the old tales, dragons were depicted as being hoarders of grand treasure, and perfectly willing to destroy everything around it.

Even when he had returned, he showed no hostility, and was more along the lines of a protective parent. Shortly after she and Gajeel had eaten, Natsu had ordered them to bed, the Iron Slayer refused initially. That changed of course, with a little persuasion, that being; Natsu didn't singe him. Of course, she felt out of place. Especially with the idea of living with a couple more over-grown lizards. Would she belong among a family of dragons, or would she simply be an odd one out? Again?

Thinking too much into this, Juvia tossed and turned for the better part of the night before eventually arising and attempting to go for a walk. That is, before she realized how stormy it had gotten outside. The rain didn't affect her, but in a sense, it was bothersome. She instead sat by the entrance to the cave and watched the rain fall.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" The blunette's heart nearly skipped a couple beats. She turned back to see the Fire Dragon watching the rain as well. He had settled himself down shortly after she had. "It's late little one, you should be sleeping. Tomorrow is a long fly home…" It was then that a thought occurred to the Fire King that he failed to bring up before departing from Lavender. "Speaking of which…the seasons seem to be off; I assumed the rainy seasons had already passed. Do you have any clue as to what might be the cause for this erratic weather?" If heart were beating any faster it would've burst through her chest by now. A subject like this was not one she would dive into carelessly. She knew full well a dragon, with his extensive knowledge, would have a way to help her control her own abilities. However, she kept quiet. Nothing personal to anyone, but she had little experience talking to folks, Gajeel being the exception. But, that was a story for another day. Feeling a gently nudge to her left, Juvia turned to find the Fire King staring at her; no malice or resentment in his eyes.

"You don't have to tell me until you feel more comfortable, there is no pressure, little one. If you wish, I could teach you how to control it." As the dragon was laying his head down, and his eyes shutting closed, he muttered a few last words for the night. "Goodnight, Juvia." It was perhaps the first time he had used her name. And while it did little to ease her thoughts, the young blunette was now mildly curious as to whatever adventures would be waiting for them in the near future.

 **-Magnolia, Dragneel household-**

It had been a week since the Fire King set off on his mission, and Flare sat alone atop the house, keeping a constant look out, wondering when her father would return. Twice she had tried to follow him, and each time she had been caught and brought home. No matter how much she asked, her father refused to take her and simply told her to stay put. She was angry first, but given time to reflect; she was still bitter, but she could see why he left her. Or rather, she stumbled onto her mother and Levy talking in her father's study. At first it was the usual bitter remarks, but almost quickly, the two had a rather heated debate over some object. A stone? No, that wasn't right. Whatever it was, the two had gone for hours discussing it, to the point that Flare had almost fallen asleep. That is, until she heard something incredibly interesting from the blunette over what the stone was. As soon as the two had locked and left the study, the young redhead managed to sneak in by simply, and painfully successfully; opening the window and entering. Finding the stone was easy, it was what to do with it that had the young fire mage in a rut. She had spent the better part of the day trying to 'activate' the stone and yet nothing. Of course, that wasn't completely true. She indeed felt a magic aura seeping from the object, much to her comfort, that warm aura reminded her of her father. That didn't surprise her much, considering she knew what exactly the stone was and the significance it would make should she use it properly. Although, as she fiddled with it on the rooftop, she failed to notice a second figure had climbed up and walked carefully to join her.

"Flare?" The young red-head's heart nearly pounced up her throat, had she not instantly remembered where she sat exactly. She clutched the object close to her chest before turning to face the newcomer. Much to her annoyance, it was Erza. Her fellow red-head had been looking for her. "Lady Ultear says dinner is ready."

"I'll be down in a sec." Flare responded, immediately regretting it upon feeling a chilling aura crawl up her spine.

"Flare, Lady Levy made Strawberry Cheesecake…" Scarlet had placed a firm grip on the fire mage's shoulder before whispering with an empty smile. "And no one is eating until everyone is present."

"A-alright, I'm going." Flare corrected, though, as she turned to face her fellow redhead, the object in her hand caught the attention of the reequip mage.

"What's that?" Erza's glare had almost completely disappeared, replaced with an intense curiosity of whatever it was that Flare had gotten her hands on this time. She leaned over to get a better look at the item. A tint of pink appeared on her cheeks as she felt the magical energy the item emitted.

"I dunno, momma and Levy were talking about this earlier today…for some reason, I can feel papa's magic in this." Flare revealed the tear-shaped stone; its color had changed from sky blue to blazing crimson. The two redheads stared at the stone, neither making a sound as they merely kept their attention on the object. For a moment, as softly as could be, the older Dragneel could've sworn she had heard whispers coming from the object in her hands.

"Do you know what it is?" Erza asked in a whisper-like tone. In response, Flare shook her head. Her eyes still glued to the stone.

"No, but maybe papa will know a bit more about it, I took it from his study, and-"

Without warning, Erza had grabbed, tightly, Flare's shoulder and was now glaring at her intensely after discovering under what pretenses her friend had acquired this object. "You did what?!"

The eldest Dragneel flinched, recoiling too hastily, catching the reequip mage by surprise as, by the shock alone, she had released her grip. Flare attempted to recover her balance, until she felt her leg slip. She felt her body falling backwards as Erza had attempted to grab her arm, to no avail. With no scream, and nothing to grab, Flare fell face first onto the ground, her hands clutching the stone to her chest. It wasn't until she had hit the ground that Erza had heard a piercing sound, almost as if a sword to flesh. She peered over to the side, seeing her friend lying idly on the ground, with nary a sound or movement; she screamed. As loud as she could, the reequip mage screamed. Though, it was fleeting, for in that second of pain and regret, she felt an immense magical aura beginning to take shape, and it was coming from Flare. That same magical aura had reformed into an intense heat that almost instantly dried the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. Without warning, the girl had combusted into flames, her own screams filling the night air. Those within the house had run out upon hearing Erza's cry, but after watching the eldest Dragneel daughter suddenly burst into flames, the two older women of the house rushed to aid the little one. Levy had placed a barrier around her, while Ultear made haste to seal whatever power was being expelled from her daughter. Or at the very least, contain the magical energy. What made matters worrisome for the Time Mage was the increase the fact that, even while being engulfed entirely in flames, the fire had no effect on her eldest child. In addition, she could swear she could also feel Natsu's magic.

"What the hell is happening to her?!" Levy yelled out, her barrier seemingly breaking regardless of the amount of magic she pumped into her barrier. For a young mage, she expected some of her potential to show fruition in the future. But, nothing like this.

Ultear was still trying to seal the raw energy her daughter was expelling before she could expend all her magical energy. Although, from what she could see, the amount of power stored she was producing far exceeded what she expected from her eldest child. It was only when Flare's body began twisting and turning that she noticed the object embedded into her chest; the dragon scale lacrima. Her heart had sunk, she swore to Natsu she'd never use it, nor would she allow her children near it. And yet, here she stood, knowing full well she couldn't do anything more at this point. Much to her relief, the magical energy had begun to die down as only a field of fire surrounded the young mage's body. The fire had yet to die down, but it had no effect on Flare's skin. There were two scenarios from here on out for the young mage; if she was strong enough, the lacrima would fuse with her. Essentially, Flare would become like her father; a Fire Dragon Slayer. But then, there was also the alternative…

 **Hey guys, sorry for the lag on this chapter, I've been caught up with school and work. One more chapter of them being in the past, and then we time skip. How far? You'll have to stick around and see. Anyway, I'm sure you're all aware of what's coming up, so yea, more dragon slayers on the way. I won't say who else, but more will come, of this I promise you. Now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter; the next will hopefully be out soon. Until next time!**


	9. Growth

Without much sound, in the span of a single night; Ultear had kept her redhead at bay, or, her powers, to be precise. Following the accident the night prior, Flare had been in and out of consciousness. Her aura rising and seemingly dimming at random. The Time Mage was at a loss; for reasons being that she could not subdue the power that kept attempting to burst from within the young redhead. Her options were dwindling, and Levy's knowledge on the subject was limited at best, particularly when the issue at hand was a lacrima being embedded into her niece's chest. Her few ideas did nothing, and time was running short on the expected return of Magnolia's residential dragon. Now, it was one thing to attack the dragon, but for its hatchlings to come to harm; there would be no haven for those who dared to intentionally invoke a dragon's wrath. Even for longtime friends, family even, there was a definite rule amongst the overgrown serpents; never lay a hand on a dragon's child; it will be the last thing you ever do. Although, Ultear was not entirely worried over how Natsu would react, she knew well how he'd be less than pleased that she didn't keep a close eye on the lacrima shard. What worried her most at the moment was Flare's condition; her body adjusting to the lacrima's power, but whether or not she would awake was another story all together. Ultear is, firstly, a mother, and seeing Flare in a near comatose state kept her on edge. Though, unlike the little ones, she was more subtle and quiet with her uneasiness. Her only tell being the constant furrow of her brows. From the night till dawn she remained by the young redhead's side. The younger Dragneels were being watched over in the living room, per their mother's orders. While both sisters were worried over Flare, Wendy showed more concern having not stopped sniffling since she had seen her older sibling engulfed in flame and surrounded by a magic aura similar to their father. However, for a faint moment, she also felt a magical energy similar to that of Levy being expelled from her sister. But, until now, she thought nothing of it.

Throughout the entire Dragneel household, no sound but the inhaled and exhales of its occupants made themselves known. All kept quiet, or so it seemed. The sounds of flapping wings and Magnolia's new 'Dragon Alert' system echoing throughout the forest, the hearts of the little ones forced them off their seats as they could hear the faint roar of a familiar dragon. Though, unlike Ultear, Levy was indeed worried over how Natsu would handle the current situation. The old lizard had felt great loss before and he handled it in his own manner. She just wasn't sure if he could handle the loss of a hatchling. Regardless, Levy took the little ones outside to greet their father, whilst Ultear remained by Flare's side. To the Time Mage's surprise, the little one stirred a bit, causing the mother's heart to race. But just as quickly as she had shown movement, Flare remained still afterwards.

Adding to the rather gloomy atmosphere, it had suddenly started raining. Not much of a surprise considering how cloudy the day started off. As the flapping wings grew ever closer, Ultear reached over and gripped Flare's hand. Never one for relying on faith or luck, at this moment she prayed and hoped that the young redhead would awaken. Her heart ached with each second she had to gaze upon the unconscious form of her eldest daughter. At first, the Time Mage was to leave the Fire King to his own devices and let him raise his hatchlings whilst she raised Meredy. But, as life would seem to have it; Meredy was quick to look to Natsu as a father, and the two hatchlings of the overgrown lizard looked to her as their mother. Granted, it was not an overnight process, but it occurred nonetheless. She treated her daughters the same way she would Meredy, and to this moment, the Dragneel siblings looked to her for guidance and affection just as much as they would their father.

Her gaze quickly turned towards the window, the sight of the crimson dragon descending from the clouds did not ease her worried thoughts. But, she held on to a hope that he'd have some answer to this. Hubris; to believe that she had could have complete control and understanding of her creations. But, to sit idly by, unable to do anything for her daughter as she lay in bed, unconscious and gods know if she'd ever awake.

Meanwhile, outside, Natsu descended slowly unto his land, keeping in mind the children holding on to him. Once his feet had touched the ground, Gajeel jumped down almost instantly, chuckling lightly to himself whilst falling on the grass. "Finally, solid ground." He mumbled aloud. The young blunette giggled lightly, while the crimson dragon sighed and mumbled something about the boy exaggerating. Still in his thoughts, Natsu began reforming back into his human form, surrounding his body with a black cloud, residing only once his human form had fully taken shape. He'd done this countless times before, he had forgotten to mention this particular information to the children he brought with him.

"Papa!" Before he could take a step forward towards his home, the Fire King found himself being rushed by two small toddlers. His little ones cling to him tightly, making control for balance all the more difficult at the moment. As the pinquette was occupied with not tripping over and falling with his little ones, the two children he brought with him were staring at him with widened eyes. They fully expected this dragon to remain just that; a dragon, and to have children similar to him. This was quite a surprise, and not entirely what Gajeel expected, but, considering this dragon was probably well into his years, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he had picked up on some spells to help him reshape himself. Perhaps a situation called for him to learn to shapeshift, perhaps for survival. Either way, the iron slayer was even more curious over what his time with this dragon family would entail. As for Juvia, the young blunette remained beside the slayer, but was as well impressed with Natsu's shapeshifting. His human form was less intimidating…well, not as much as she had hoped, but she felt she'd be able to speak with this version of the elder Dragneel a little better.

With a wide smile, Natsu wrapped his arms around his little ones, holding them close to him while chuckling mildly. Though, his laughter fell short as he took notice of the little ones sniffling. He kneeled down and turned their faces to his, both had reddened eyes and small tears in the corner of their eyes. Before getting a chance to ask what was wrong, his nose twitched, his body shivered upon taking in the magical residue. He had completely overlooked it, but now that the rushing winds from his wings had settled, his senses were bombarded with the feeling of a great amount of expelled magic. Fire type, and all of it from a single source, but with it, he felt something else, or rather, someone else. It was only a second of thought before the gears clicked; the second source was his own daughter's magical energy mixed with his own. Gaining a vague idea of what occurred; Natsu gave his little one a tight hug before gently breaking away and pacing hastily towards his house, the little ones and the newcomers not too far behind. As soon as the Fire King was standing at the doorway to his eldest child's room, he froze. From where he stood, he felt Ultear's aura, and another, albeit faint, aura within. Hesitantly, he turned the knob and walked in, his heart broke at the sight of pale Flare with a scar on her chest, almost as if burned unto her. Ultear had kept her attention focused on the young redhead, but acknowledged his return.

Natsu's steps were weighed down as he walked ever so slowly to his daughter's bedside. He knelt beside Flare, gently gripping one of her hands, in doing so, he sensed power. One that he had hoped would die with him; pure ether. His expression shifted to a harsh scowl, he turned his head to Levy and gestured her to take the children out. Without needing to ask why, she quickly rounded the little ones and the newcomers and took them outside the house. Leaving only Natsu and Ultear, alone, something the Time Mage dreaded, but knew would come.

"Ultear." She flinched, only for a moment before realizing her name had been spoken without a harsh or dangerous tone to it. Very slowly, she turned to face her companion, but what she saw upon seeing him greatly unnerved her. She saw, for what felt like the first in a long time, in Natsu's eyes; fear. "I…have an idea…as to what's wrong with her…" the woman's eyes widened, her heart began racing again, but it slowed itself down when she noticed her partner's grim expression had yet to cease. "I just need to know; that dragon scale lacrima you gave me…you siphoned my magic for it…didn't you?" Ultear turned away, replying ever so softly to his question while keeping her attention on Flare.

"Yes."

"I see." Natsu responded, placing his hand over the scar on Flare's chest. "I was afraid of that." he muttered, his face hardening whilst his palm began to glow. Ultear felt a radiating amount of power emit from the Fire King. And without warning, a glyph appeared over the elder dragneel's scar, it caused her to shift, her brows furrowing as, in that instant, Flare let out a blood curdling scream. Ultear flinched, if only for a moment before attempting to break the pinquette away from the girl.

"What are you doing?!" She yelled at him while charging up an incantation in her hand.

"DON'T" He shouted back, though, keeping full concentration on his daughter. "If I stop now; she won't stand a chance." Confused and unable to withstand hearing her little one in pain, the Time Mage was about ready to blast him away, but, for now, with no other option, she instead lowered her arms and, begrudgingly, awaited for him to finish whatever he was doing.

Outside Levy had taken the little ones as far as she could from their house, or at least, far from earshot. Which was pretty far when she took into account the present slayer's enhanced hearing abilities. For the most part, the group in whole was quiet, and while she didn't expect the Dragneel siblings to be talkative at the moment, she expected the iron slayer and the blunette to say something, or at the very least ask what was occurring. Still, while Levy was happy to see the iron slayer, she wished it had been under better circumstances. As for Juvia, she didn't expect to see the water mage any time soon. But, that didn't mean she was unwelcomed, rather, it gave the demon bookworm an idea.

Whilst keeping an eye on Natsu's hatchlings, a glyph appeared beneath her feet as she too began to reform back to her demon body. Something she tried to avoid considering how many folks felt about demons, especially after an envoy of clerics arrived not too long ago, searching for the supposed 'Demon of the south-eastern shore'. A long title, but Levy cared little for it, rather, she enjoyed when those 'mages' arrived, their attempts to 'purify' the land of her presence involved mostly prayer and river water they tried to pass up as holy water infused with a type of magic suppresser. Of course, nothing worked, and after much teasing on her part, the clerics left, but not before vowing to return with a larger order. While this didn't exactly bother Levy, she couldn't exactly say she enjoyed being eyed as a trophy or target for mages looking to make a name for themselves.

As the light dimmed from her glyph, the children were in awe of her demon form. One of which she was extremely proud of, for two obvious reasons. As she turned her attention to the iron slayer and the water mage, she was surprised to see the blunette hiding behind the boy, and his arms rose up, almost as if ready to fight.

"Put your arms down." When he kept them up, her expression shifted to a harsh glare. "Now." She demanded, without needing to raise her tone, the boy lowered his hands almost instantly. Levy glanced over to Juvia and softened her tone. "And you, come out, I won't bite." As soft as she could at least. Juvia hesitated greatly, unwilling to move from her spot behind Gajeel. "If I need to repeat myself…" Her tone harshened, and with that, Juvia remained firm, unwilling to move from the protection of the Iron Slayer.

"Auntie Levy." The blunette demon glanced towards Meredy, with Wendy clinging to her right arm. "Maybe you should be nicer." She advised, albeit with a tangent of hesitance. For the young Dragneels, it was clear to see where their friend and their aunt differed. While the young Mcgarden and Redfox shared the same name and eerily similar features, their personalities were far from similarity. Mcgarden was immensely shy, cautious, and soft with words, Redfox was the complete opposite.

One thing to keep in mind was that being a demon was nothing new, being surrounded by humans was indeed something new. Keeping up her human formed drained her magic reserves and her demon form caught the eye of any and all. Hence the occasional cleric or monk that sought to 'purify' the realm of her. Or so they'd occasionally blurt out before attacking. As of late, there were some who came close to actually laying a finger on her, although, thanks to her reformation, she was more than just a human. Reluctantly, she sighed with a tint of annoyance and softened her facial expression. She turned back to Juvia and Gajeel. "Alright blue."

"Yes, Auntie?" Wendy chimed in.

"Not you, sweetie." In a rare moment, Levy showed a caring and gentle smile for Wendy, right before her expression hardened again. "Natsu brought you both here, which means…" She took a quick whiff of the air and turned her gaze towards Gajeel. "You're a slayer." She then turned to Juvia. "And you…human, but I'm not entirely sure why he brought you." Levy waved her hand, bringing up a piece of the earth beneath her, allowing a small floating rock for the demon to sit on. The use of non-verbal, particularly control over elemental magic, left the children in awe, more so the attention of Juvia. "Doesn't matter, since you're both family now, why don't we get acquainted?"

"Family?" Gajeel muttered in confusion, leaving Levy to lightly rub the bridge of her nose.

"Of course he didn't mention that. Or he did, and you weren't listening." She mumbled. Levy crossed her arms and glanced back to the two kids. "So, let's start off with a simple introduction, I'm Levy Redfox, Script Mage, and younger sister to Natsu Dragneel…well, mostly through my husband." Her eyes wandered slightly, staring off into space whilst thinking of her time as a mage before the end of the world. It wasn't always peaceful, and it was far from perfect, but there wasn't a day that went by that she and her husband weren't content. As her eyes glanced back, she noticed Gajeel and Juvia staring at her with both surprised and widened eyes.

"You married a dragon?" Gajeel asked. "That's…weird."

"I think it's nice…" Juvia managed to chime in, somewhat. "I mean…they loved each other, right?" The four children looked to Levy, waiting for her to reminisce of her days with her family, and perhaps clarify the kinship between Natsu and this brother she spoke of.

"I didn't know papa had a brother." Meredy commented, earning a nod from Wendy. Seeing where this conversation was turning, and not sensing Natsu or any others nearby, Levy disclosed what little she wanted to tell of the old dragon slayer clan. She waved her hand around the children, bringing up more rock beneath them, allowing the young ones to sit whilst a swirl of dust in between them formed into what seemed like a town. The children were, for lack of a better word, in awe. Meredy and Wendy had seen their aunt cast non-verbal spells before, hell; the woman had written a book about it. Granted, despite their constant pleas, they weren't going to read that bit of literature any time soon. For Juvia and Gajeel, things were a tad bit different; they never thought that going with a dragon would lead to them having to interact with a demon, who claims to be a member of said dragon's family.

"Well, he didn't have just one; the Dramak clan was comprised of seven dragon kin. Natsu wasn't the oldest, but he was by far the strongest. Of course, having dragon blood does help…a lot. My husband was, perhaps not the strongest of his siblings, but he was one of Natsu's closest brothers." With a calm smile, Levy used her hands to rearrange the dust as her story went on, the little ones paying close attention alongside the older blunette. The iron slayer, while paying attention, wasn't exactly as invested as the girls were.

"If I can point out…" Gajeel interrupted, "You went from extremely threatening to uncomfortably calm without missing a beat. That's not only disturbing, but also confusing. And what's with the magic tricks, I thought mages needed to say the name of the spell for it to work."

Levy's right eye twitched, faintly, as the dust between her palms reshaped into a miniature dagger which darted forward in such a speed that it was only seen upon stopping a few centimeters in front of the boy's neck. "Sweetie, please don't interrupt me again. Ok?" without missing a beat, Gajeel's head nodded rapidly. Juvia was lightly trembling, while the two younger girls mostly giggled, knowing full well their aunt's threats were mostly empty…mostly. "As I was saying; my husband was an Iron Dragon Slayer, in fact, where we came from; he was probably the only one." A gleam in the young boy's eye suddenly sparked as he heard this new bit of information, which died out almost quickly when Levy turned to face him again. "And for your information; yes, a mage needs to cast an incantation before their spell can be manifested. But, that's not true for specific magic. Mostly elemental magic is where you can attempt non-verbal casting. Fire and water especially." Upon looking towards the older blunette, she could see the little one gloom. Which wasn't too surprising considering the demon purposely mentioned the difficulty of elemental magic for the two mentioned types. "But, luckily for you kids, I picked up on some tricks here and there, wrote some of them down too. Since my husband's primary element was earth, I focused more on that particular type of magic." Her eyes refocused on Gajeel, the menacing gleam in her pupils sent a massive shiver up the boy's spine. "Guess that means you and I will be spending a whole lot of time together, doesn't it, Iron Dragon Slayer."

"H-h-how did you…?" The boy was caught off guard, having no recollection of ever revealing his magic.

To which Levy scowled and leaned over towards him, causing the slayer to flinch and back away slightly. "Are you kidding me, I could smell Metalicana on you. I'd know that rusty smell anywhere." She mumbled angrily.

The shock and sparks of curiosity within the boy's eyes were filling with a plethora of questions; the first of which she could probably guess would be how she knew the iron dragon. Although, before Levy was bombarded by questions a familiar pinquette emerged from the thickets, seemingly out of thin air. His arrival made the little ones yelp, jumping ever so slightly. His face showed no grief or relief, rather, he remained stoic. He stared at the small group for a moment before turning his attention to Meredy.

"Merry, I need you to take the children inside, have them wait in the living room, momma is gonna stay with Flare so I'll make you kids breakfast when we get back." Natsu's tone showed no hostility, but it was with such authority that the young pinquette stood up, nodded sharply, and led the others with her. Wendy followed with no argument or question, Juvia hesitated, but followed regardless. Gajeel was about to say something when he felt a cold gaze staring down on him. He left, mumbling quietly to himself.

Once the younger slayers were out of hearing range, Natsu leaned against a nearby tree.  
"Jewels for your thoughts?" The demon blunette asked, her tone shifting as she was no longer around the children. But rather, around her last remaining family from her old life. True, being a demon came with the bloodlust, luckily, she had time to meditate and maintain control over her nature. Something she and the pinquette both held great pride in, each for their own reasons. However, following the event pf the day prior, there was an issue that would arise that the two would need to keep a close eye on. The lacrima the young redhead was infused with, while containing the power of a Fire Dragon, still held something else that the creator didn't expect. Of course, that could be because the creator, Ultear, has not yet been made privy to the information. At the moment, only Natsu and Levy were aware, and equally worried.

"I sealed what I could...she's…fine." He spoke with uncertainty, doubting whether he truly did all he could. "For now, all we can do is wait until she wakes. And I want to be there when that happens, so you're going to help me find-"

"She's in the field." Levy interrupted, faintly smirking when a small tangent of confusion showed. "I placed a tracker on everyone. Wasn't easy, but I can give you coordinates of anyone from anywhere in Fiore." She leaned over towards with a devilish smirk. "You won't believe where Makarov frequents every Friday at nine."

"Now isn't the time…and we'll need to talk about what you meant by 'everyone'." Natsu wasn't sure if he felt a bit fearful at Levy's little side activities, or grateful she made tasks all the more easier. Though, what she didn't make easy was getting her to share certain bits of information.

The demon woman smiled and playfully brushed her palm against his chest before placing a finger against her lips. "Spoilers." She whispered slyly.

Sitting idly atop a boulder within a scorched field was a young mage, alone. Sitting with her legs pressed tightly against her chest. She heard the alarm earlier; she knew it wouldn't be long until her master found her. What worried her was how he'd react; would he be reasonable, or would he make an example of what occurred? It was an accident, so he wouldn't do anything rash, right?

"Erza." The young redhead jumped, more so than ever, as her legs trembled upon feeling the aura of her teacher. Her body turned slowly to face the towering figure of her mentor, his stoic demeanor gave left her to guess whether the old dragon was calm or just really good at hiding his anger. Something in her screamed at her to run away, but no matter how much she felt the need to escape; she had nowhere to run that Natsu wouldn't be able to find her. So, she kept her head low and awaited for whatever would come next. "Sit." Without needing to repeat himself, Erza sat back down, but her head remained low with her eyes glued to the floor. Coming into her limited view where his legs stopping a few feet away as he kneeled to her level. She could feel his eyes on her, it wasn't with malice, which filled her with immense uncertainty, her heart began beating rapidly as her breathing grew heavy. "Look at me." She couldn't help but flinch when he spoke, a dragon in human form was standing before her with his daughter bedridden, and she being the involuntary cause of it. Knowing better than to invoke the wrath of said Fire Dragon, she slowly raised her head, meeting his stone cold gaze. Like his voice, she couldn't tell what he was feeling. "Erza, I want you to tell me everything that happened." She could feel no hostility in his words, but rather; desperation for understanding, particularly for something that occurred to his hatchling. Something she expected from a father and in truth from him as well, but if she were to be blunt; she expected her mentor to have a small fit, or hold a bitter grudge.

Regardless, she nodded and proceeded to tell her mentor everything that occurred. Ranging from a low voice to stuttering, Erza couldn't help but feel intimidated with having to explain to her master why his daughter was in a coma-like state because of her, and yet, he showed no signs of being furious with her. What made her worry more was when she noticed Redfox standing a few feet behind him. Her expression was similar to his, but she occasionally grinned her and there. Seeing her teacher made the girl even more nervous. Her mentor was frightening enough, add in the demon instructor was a combination she wasn't exactly too eager to witness. Having seen the blunette face off against clerics and bounty hunters with ease, she could only imagine what these two had in store for her. Once she had told her story in its entirety, she remained quiet, waiting for a response. What she received was not what she expected. She was startled when Natsu stood up, watched intently as took a moment to ponder something, flinched when she saw his arm move towards her. She shut her eyes and waited whatever punishment was coming her way. Instead, she felt a hand press against her head, patting her, and gently ruffling her hair. She opened her eyes hesitantly and glanced upwards. Natsu's expression didn't change, but she didn't feel threatened anymore.

"Thank you, for being honest with me." There was a moment of confusion for the redhead. She expected the dragon to lash out at her for being reckless, especially on the roof. This act of calm understanding was not what she expected, given the stories she heard from Lady Ultear and Levy.

"You believe me? Why?" Erza didn't know why, but something inside just compelled her to ask.

Seeing her surprised and confused expression made the pinquette glance to Levy, who averted eye contact. Getting a somewhat clear idea of her confusion, Natsu sighed and sat beside the redhead. "I do, because I don't believe you'd ever do something like this intentionally. But at the same time, I've noticed that you tend to lose your temper rather quickly." Erza stiffened. "I'd like to know; why is it you anger so easily?" And here was a can of worms the young mage had no plans of opening. It wasn't the smartest idea, given the situation, but she decided to keep her mouth shut and refuse to say anything. While she respected her master, she preferred keeping her past to herself. Getting the message rather quickly, Natsu nodded, mostly to himself, and rose back up. 'Alright, if you don't want to say, I'll respect your privacy, however, this means you and I will be going over a new form of training I shouldn't even be considering teaching you, but I feel you'll need it soon enough."

Erza was, by every definition of the word, confused. She didn't think he'd consider continuing their training, much less giving her some lessons even he'd consider keeping to himself.

"But now is not the time." He turned towards the direction of his home, glancing over to the redhead. "We'll discuss it after breakfast. Let's go." He gestured her to follow, to which she did so, trailing ever so shyly behind him. While she was confused as to why he was taking her with him, her stomach growled at the mention of food, obliterating any opportunity to reject his offer.

Four children sat quietly in the Dragneel home, the two siblings kept to themselves, never speaking, but occasionally gesturing towards Juvia, both with curiosity and mild interest. Gajeel sat closest to the fireplace, for a house being so close to the sea; the mornings were cold to say the least. Luckily, the fireplace seemed to be working so that was a plus. Juvia sat beside him, she glance to around, taking in the decorations, the few family portraits, and the book case filled with titles she had never heard of. Some in scripture she had only seen when Gajeel had shown her a few words in dragon tongue.

With the twitching of Wendy and Gajeel's noses, all eyes turned to the front door, opening to reveal the pinquette, the demon woman, and a face that had mixed reactions from the two younger Dragneels. Wendy was thrilled to see her friend return, running up to her and embracing the mage. Meredy was another story entirely. She didn't think her father would be harsh on the redhead; her mother was either, yet. But she wasn't exactly thrilled to see the Fairy Tail mage accompanying her father.

"Why is she here?" She asked rather bluntly.

"Is there a reason she shouldn't be here?" The response came, not from Natsu or Levy, but rather, from behind the younger pinqutte. Her head darted towards the source of the voice, her eyes widened as she saw the weary and pale state her older sister was in. While most of the room was in shock to see the redhead awake already, Meredy wasted no time embracing her older sibling, shocked, but glad to see her awake. Wendy too ran over to Flare as well, both hatchlings holding on to their sibling almost in the same manner they would Natsu.

"F-Flare, what are you doing up? And where's your mother?" Natsu asked, knowing full well Ultear would never allow Flare to be up this early after waking.

"After I woke up she fell asleep…I kinda snuck out." She admitted, sheepishly. Her faint grin vanished as soon as her eyes met with Erza's. The redhead walked, slowly, towards her guildmate. Though, she instantly felt herself weighed dowen by her sisters. Sensing the tone, Erza instead approached, causing Meredy to hold on to Flare tighter while giving Erza a mild glare. Said redhead stopped a few feet away, her eyes averting contact for a few seconds before meeting the stoic gaze of her fellow redhead. As she was to speak, Flare raised her right hand, gesturing Erza not to speak. Rather, instead of exchanging words, the elder Dragneel instead extended her hand. It didn't take anyone long to understand what this simple gesture meant; forgive and forget. An uncommon way to settle an issue nowadays, though, not for these two. At least, it was mostly known to those who knew of Flare and Erza's interactions. The two, rather than 'talk it out' as others would usually do, they'd instead choose to simply shake hands. It was used mostly to avoid long, overdrawn apologies. It wasn't something Ultear and Natsu were overly fond of, but it did mean the two had a way to resolve a conflict between themselves. Of course, it still seemed like Meredy wasn't too fond of Erza being so easily forgiven. Although, if she had anything to say, she kept it to herself. Instead choosing to continue hugging her sister, only smiling when she felt her sibling's arm embrace her as well.

"She awoke pretty quickly." Levy commented, leaning over to Natsu as to keep their conversation to a whisper. "You think it has something to do with what you did earlier?"

"Maybe…I'm not entirely sure. But, it makes you wonder how much of my power Ultear syphoned into that lacrima. Speaking of which…" Natsu and Levy both turned towards the bedrooms.

"FLARE!" Came a yell from within the house with both worry and slight annoyance. The tone startled each of the children, but the one most affected was the weary redhead, knowing full well she was in hot water.

"Mom's awake."

 **Let me start off by saying I apologize for the long wait, believe me im trying to do this on a monthly schedule, but I don't have as much extra time as I used to. Also, with the Holidays, i wasnt able to publish this right after Christmas like i had intended. But I do plan to try to keep the updates to a monthly system. Now, before ending this little AN, I'm adding another chapter in the past, just to add a bit more in, and afterwards things will progress further. Any ways, I hope this chapter was enough, again, im sorry for the long wait. Until next time, Ciao!**


	10. Further Training

Seven months come and go in the blink of an eye, Magnolia had come to terms with its resident dragon and demon, both of which protected the small town and its neighboring lands. Though, the cause of much of the destruction stemmed, not from the Magic entities, but rather, their offsprings. Yes, as hard as it was to believe, the hatchlings of the dragon even at so young an age caused a great deal of destruction in the contracts they took up, particularly when it came to the simplest of tasks. This of course caught the eye of the Magic Council, an organization that was not on the best of terms with either of the Dragneel mythical beings. There was a plethora of attempts to capture them, each attempt ending with the council being given the failed mission debrief, in a taunting manner, by the Dragneel patriarch. It was irritating, for the Council, but entertaining to the king, who upon hearing of this supposed dragon of Magnolia, took it upon himself to invite this dragon to the capital city despite his council's warning. Though, knowing well that no Magnolian would divulge the whereabouts of their town's protector, the invitation was sent to Fairy Tail. Although, in the span of a month, a reply came with the master of the Fairy Tail guild sending his regards, but that the dragon of Magnolia had traveled eastward in search of something. Reports from towns and cities inland proved the story true, as a crimson dragon was spotted flying high above the sky. Though, as with the council's attempts to track down the dragon, the king's guard held no such Look seeking out the giant lizard themselves.

As for the overgrown salamander himself, his travel eastward was less in search of, and more of a training session with, not a dragon slayer, but the young water mage. Given that Juvia's sudden change in living style; from wandering orphan to adopted daughter of a dragon, a time mage, and a demon. Not exactly an event she foresaw, nor did she have as many complaints as one would expect. But really, what was there to find in fault? The time mage, Ultear, was less carefree, but she truly showed how much she cared for the little ones. And was extremely patient as she showed when the iron slayer was less than cooperative the first few weeks. Though, the demon, Levy, was confusing. While she did show fondness for the youngling, Gajeel in particular, the demon was more inclined to be left alone, partaking in few activities. It was only when the younger hatchlings pleaded that she fully committed, but nothing more than that.

Natsu...was another story. In the months that passed, Juvia couldn't deny that she was still mildly afraid of him. And why wouldn't she be? A dragon, a creature straight from myth, a race long thought dead or simply legend, descended from the heavens one fateful day and whisked her and Gajeel away to his nest. There, they were assimilated into the Dragneel family, or rather, she was. Gajeel was taken in by Levy, almost immediately, therefore making him; a Redfox. And with the demon, training and studying was absolute, a necessity one could say. Thus, the boy had little time for anything else, let alone socializing with his 'siblings'. But, the dragon's daughters did help her fit in, particularly the younger ones, Wendy and Meredy.

"Juvia, are you listening to me?" The young mage's mind snapped at attention, her head shook as she quickly remembered where she was; several hundred feet above the ground, riding on the back of her apparent adoptive father. Although, that was what most denizens and mages of Magnolia saw her as. When it was known that she was taken in the Dragneel household, her name officially became; Juvia Dragneel. While she held no qualm towards the name, nor could she be so ungrateful towards the immediate affection and hospitality from her siblings, she wasn't exactly comfortable referring to Natsu or Ultear as her parents. They played the parts exceptionally well, and yet, she found herself unable to call them her mother or father. Seven months, and she still referred to them by honorifics.

"Juvia dozed off. S-sorry." She apologized. Gripping his horns to keep herself firmly atop, the dragon began descending to what appeared to be an island in the middle of a lake.

"I expect your full attention once we land; it took me quite a bit to find this little patch of land for your training." To say she was nervous would be an understatement. Having been told only three days prior that her training would be conducted by the Fire Dragon King left her with quite a sum of anxiety, and it was only racking up each second. That title was enough to give her a glimpse of what he would expect from her, and the many times she'd seen Flare and the other young mages return from a training session with the Dragneel patriarch only furthered her fear. The younglings returned exhausted, covered in dirt and grime, and almost always with little magic left in them. Natsu, on the other hand, always came home with still a hefty chunk of his magic reserves still up. With each day that passed, as each month came and went they all grew stronger. Flare and Gray were on equal levels, though, that was only because Ezra would intervene before the two could go all out. The latter of course was the strongest of the trio, with Gajeel just under the reequip mage, irking Flare to a great degree. As she came to quickly discover, the young redhead seemed to have picked up her father's tendency to challenge any and all she found stronger than her. In most cases, she lost, but an admirable trait Juvia appreciated from her new 'sibling' was the undying determination she showed after each fight. She chose to simply get stronger, rather than sit around and bitch.

Which brought up another question the young mage asked herself constantly, both at home and during their trip; would she live up to the name?

As they landed, Natsu's head hung low, allowing Juvia to safely hop towards the ground. Upon first glance, she took notice of the small island they stood upon; few, albeit lush trees and shrubs, noticeable bird life, and an occasional gentle breeze. The ripples in the water gave a sense that fish were about in the lake. A hopeful prospect, as with the joys of living in a coastal town, Juvia had quite the interest in seafood.

"Here, your lessons will begin, and it will be here that will determine your limits. And by that extension; your advancement as mage." His tone, whether as a human or dragon, always carried a form of authority, and oddly enough a sense of caring and comfort. She couldn't describe what it was, but she felt safer around the dragon then she would with anyone else. Surprisingly enough, she was just as afraid of him as she was comforted. A contradiction, to be certain, but also a conflicting set of emotions she had yet to share with anyone.

Natsu's head lowered to her level, his facial expression, albeit faint, eased. "Of course, no pressure intended." Not intended, perhaps. But it was interpreted as such nonetheless. "Now then, let's begin." The large red salamander focused his attention on the lake before them. "The water element in magic requires, among other things; a calm mind, a controlled emotional state, and patience. Traits severely lacking in our resident Ice-make mage." He uttered that last bit with a hint of annoyance.

"Lady Ultear or Gray?" Juvia asked.

"Yes."

"...for which-"

"Yes."

If only for a moment, Juvia held her palms to her mouth to stifle a giggle as she knew Natsu would never outright admit to whom he referred to. Of all things she read about with dragons and their lore, a sense of humor was something she didn't think they'd have, much less express around humans. Still, everything about this Dragneel was nothing of what she expected a dragon to be.

Clearing his throat, Natsu continued the lesson. "From what I've noticed over these last few months, you've been able to cause storms, unintentionally, when your mood is...downtrodden, for lack of a better word. I've also taken note of a moment where you seemingly converted a portion of your body into water, and then right back to human."

The young mage's eyes widened, she'd done that, no denial there. But she hadn't told a soul of that particular trick, so how was it that he knew of it? "Am I wrong?"

"N-no."

The dragon hummed to himself, his eyes locked on to the young water mage as she nervously stared aimlessly at the ground. She was still afraid of him, that has not gone unnoticed by the Dragneel. He'd contemplated reverting to his human form, if only to ease her worry. Though, this training was to help her confront that fear, to overcome what kept her from advancing as a mage; fear and doubt. "Juvia. Before we continue, there is something I must ask you." Still, baby steps were needed; he shifted to his human form, knowing full well teaching would be next to near impossible if she was constantly trying to avoid him. As he did, it was revealed that he'd allowed a full beard to grow, shaved and kept clean of course, per Ultear's orders. His pink hair was still as wild, though it too was allowed to grow, as long as it was trimmed as well. His clothing had changed as well, this time bearing a tunic pants, no shirt as always, though he wore now a leather vest, greaves, bracers, and boots. Seeing him like this relaxed the young mage, though she still kept a respectful distance. "Are you afraid of me?" And just like that, her heart rate spiked, as did her eyes widen.

Although Natsu knew the answer already, he still wanted to hear it from her. But, she stayed silent, unwilling to answer as she was still processing whether to answer truthfully, or to lie her way through his questions.

"Yes." She chose honesty.

She heard a long sigh; her head glanced up to see Natsu...disappointed? Her mood had drooped, she assumed herself as the cause for his disappointment. Was it that she was afraid of the man she was to call her guardian? "I see." He muttered. "Why?" And there again was the awkward silence makings its comeback. She didn't have an answer for that question. Actually she did, but she found the words harder to express the more she tried. She'd stutter, fumble, and often times end up yelling without meaning to. The latter often came across as rude, so she opted to just simply remain quiet.

"...Juvia doesn't know..." She wasn't lying. And even now, she kept her head down, still unwilling to meet his eyes with her own.

Realizing he wouldn't get a straight answer from her, Natsu instead chose to approach this a different route. Thanks to Levy prying Gajeel, the pinquette was given a little bit of info that would help get through to her. Or, at the very least, try.

An hour passes, and the two are sitting quietly by the lake, fishing rods in hand, and the unnerving lingering silence. The buckets beside them showed the water mage with just a few more catches than the pinquette. Using reequip he had managed to bring a couple necessities along, though, when it came to bait and cast, Juvia showed more experience than he assumed. Still, they had more than enough food for dinner, the need for further fishing wasn't exactly a necessity, but rather, a means to keep the peace and silence prolonged. It was comforting, for the two. Feeling the need to break the tension, hoping he'd be able to at least break some ground with her, Natsu spoke.

"Juvia..." his sudden voice caused her to grip her rod tightly, Juvia's eyes drifted in the opposite direction of the slayer. "You're better at this than I thought. Better than Gajeel." He may have muttered that last bit, but he had no intention of uttering in such a tone that Juvia would miss it. A faint chortle escaped her mouth as she pressed a palm against her mouth. Though, she way she softly wheezed only incited the possibility of personal stories regarding the iron slayer and fishing. And so, Natsu continued. "Boy had no patience for it, kept getting irritated, even tried getting one with a spear." He made a motion with a free hand. "Scared most of the fish away though."

"With the spear?" Juvia asked, breaking her silent streak.

To which Natsu smirked. "No, by falling in."

The two chuckled at the story, Natsu for having witnessed it during his training session with Gajeel, and Juvia for having to see it when she and the iron slayer were still wanderers. The awkward tension seemingly dissipated as the two continued their fishing session, but with grins. And in a surprising twist, the water mage decided to share a few memories.

"Juvia remembers when we lived in Solsthrain, Gajeel never liked fishing, said it was too boring." The young mage recalled. "I like it. It's calming." And for once, in perhaps the whole time Natsu has known Juvia, both this one and the one from his world, she didn't refer to herself in third person. It was odd, out of character, but a refreshing change he'd admit.

"I as well." For a few minutes, the silence returned. Temporary it was, but the small moment in which the two shared of their time with the iron slayer, while simple and fairly short, was a show of bonding. They had a common interest, and they managed to crack a few jokes. "You know, I used to fish with my father...and my son." This caught Juvia's immediate attention. Was he speaking about Gajeel? Or was there some other child of his? Her eyes were now locked on him as he sighed and continued his remembrance. "Who would've thought, a four hundred year old dragon, and the best moments of my life happened in the span of fourteen years, seven of which I was sealed away." She'd heard this story, McGarden told it best; how Natsu spent time in a guild elsewhere, built a life for himself as a mage, and lived his life with a new adventure appearing at almost every turn. "Fourteen years..." he snapped his fingers, as his smile was slowly fading.

Juvia wasn't feeling so good.

"Gone in the blink of an eye. And you know, it's left me with a realization, one that I've yet to share with either Levy or Ultear; I am afraid." That sentence, those mere words, came down on the young mage with great magnitude. This mighty dragon, this beast of legends, said to be able to set cities ablaze in a matter of hours, armies by the thousands cower at the mere roar of this lizard. And yet here he was, admitting; he was afraid. "I am afraid of failing again. Of failing to protect that which I hold dear to me. To lose my family again is a pain I feel would be the end of me." His arm reached over, landing softly on the blunette's head. "All of you mean a great deal to me."

A small tint of pink arose in the young mage's cheeks.

Natsu took a moment to breath before continuing. His smile faintly returning as he did. "I understand if you don't wish to refer to me as your father, and I'm sure my name now carries much weight to it. To be the child of a dragon carries with it, as society would expect, a great deal of expectations. But I don't want that from you, and I don't want you to heft such pressure. All I want is to prepare you for whatever life throws at you. But, if you'd prefer to adhere from Magic all together, simply say so, Juvia, and I will respect your decision."

In all honesty, she didn't know what she wanted to do. Continuing her studies in Magic was fun, but he said it clearly; the Dragneel name carries with it a weight of expectations, ones that Gajeel and Flare seemed adamant on meeting. And she couldn't exactly change her name either, people around Magnolia knew her as the elder Dragneel blunette. The Fire Dragon King's second elder daughter. In a family of dragon slayers, she was the odd one out. Meredy was young, but her training had begun at a perfect time. She'd practiced small spells, and even gone as far as produced a small stream of fire in similar to a Fire Dragon's Roar. With a few more years of practice, no doubt Flare would have some competition coming her way. And yet, there stood Juvia, the only child with no dragon slayer powers. All she could do was listen to her 'siblings' boast over who could smell the best, who was the strongest, who could see the farthest. The most agile, the physically strongest, the better element. All of these were ones of a family of draconics. Levy and Ultear fit into the fold due to their roles as both mentors and mothers.

But that still left the blunette with one unanswered question; where did that leave her? Lost in her thought, she only noticed the Dragneel patriarch rise when his hand had lifted off her head. She turned to watch him as he picked up his bucket and fishing rod. "Take your time. I'm going to set up camp." His voice, the whole time he spoke, was never hostile or threatening. But rather, soothing. Left alone, Juvia's mind wandered, picturing what a future would be like as a Dragneel. She'd be the only odd one out, even if she wasn't a dragon slayer, she'd still be expected to have a mastery of some form of magic, seeing as she was the child of a dragon, demon, and time mage. How that three way relationship worked was beyond the girl, but it was of little importance to her.

At the corner of her eye, she picked up on something approaching the island. A bird? It had wings, but the figure didn't exactly fit any flying birds she knew. It didn't take long for the mage to get a clue and quickly stand at ready, the unknown slowed ever so. Landing roughly on the shore of the small island, creating a crater beneath her feet. As her wings rescinded, her glare intensified as she stalked over to where Juvia had fallen over in her attempts to put space between them. As the unknown drew ever closer, Juvia's breathing sharpened, fearful of what not knowing what to say or do. Thankfully, it was the unknown who started the conversation.

"Where is it?" Or rather, an interrogation. And it didn't take long for the water mage to recognize this girl; she was one of the hooded mages that confronted Natsu at Lavender. Mira, was her name. Or, that's what some other hooded mage called her. And judging by the way they departed, this girl was none too happy with the dragon. "Well?!" And her attitude only irked the water mage the wrong way.

"Juvia doesn't know what you're talking about." Which was as big a mistake as any could make as the white haired mage's glare didn't cease, but rather, she only appeared more pissed off.

"Don't fucking lie to me, I saw that overgrown gecko flying to this very island. I've been looking for that damned salamander for over half a year already. I ain't leaving till I get my answers. So where is it?" she hissed, a clear vendetta she had against the dragon. For what reason, Juvia couldn't exactly tell. But she wouldn't allow this girl to go near Natsu. Knowing him, he'd be able to handle this girl with ease, but this was also a moment for her to test out her abilities. After all, she was technically a threat. An annoying and vulgar one at that.

Without so much as a warning, a stream of water from the lake darted forward, forming s chain around the white-haired mage's leg just before dragging her towards the water. It caught her off guard, and she managed to break free with little problem. And judging by her reaction to this, she wasn't exactly going to pack up and run at the prospect of someone standing up to her. Although, Juvia was herself quite stubborn as well. She'd easily have the advantage; all she needed was to push a bit more. And so, with a raise of her palms, more streams of water darted forward, again catching Mira by surprise as she was now chained by four streams of water, dragging her to the lake. She broke free from the chains in her wrist, though as she dealt with the ones restraining her feet, she'd already been dumped into the shallow side of the shore. The water level was knee high, it would make her moves sluggish, but as long as Juvia kept her in the water, she had the advantage. For now.

Jumping into the lake with her, Juvia was smirking, faintly. She felt it; the adrenaline rush. With movements similar to ocean waves, but in doing so, the lake seemingly moved with her actions. Reaching towards the girl, grasping her hands vigorously; four water chains again trapped Mira in place. Again, she struggled and broke free of the chains with little effort. Though, the irritated expression on her face only proved that Juvia's magic was merely an annoying hindrance. With lightning speed, even if on water, Mira had closed the distance between the two young mages, delivering a single blow to the water mage's face. Though, also in a shocking twist, Juvia's body almost immediately dissolved into water. Momentarily, the white haired mage was caught off guard. Her eyes darted around, searching for her target. Only for almost a dozen streaks of water to rise and reform as the water mage. Water clones, each raising their palms in unison with a multitude of water chains to hold the white haired mage down. This time, she indeed struggled, and found herself unable to break these bonds as easily as the last attempts.

"Ok..." Mira muttered. "I'm impressed." She struggled again, to no avail. "Annoyed, but impressed."

A faint spark of pride brought a smirk to the young Blunette's face. Although, as the white haired mage seemingly cooled down, slowing her breathing, and relaxing her body, a chill ran up Juvia's spine. A sudden wave of aura from Mira broke the chains completely, dissolved the water clones, and knocked Juvia back a bit. Within seconds she felt a hand grasp at her throat forcing her out of her water and tossing her unto dry land. The mage finally rid herself of the robe, why she didn't do so earlier was quite confusing, but now the water mage could see...punk goth clothing? She wasn't expecting it, but to each their own? Fashion aside, Juvia tried standing back up, only to be kept down by a foot placed against her chest. It pressed harder the more she struggled to free herself from it. In the midst of her attempt to free herself, she only took notice of how close Mira's face was to hers. "But not enough." She rose a fist into the air, prepared to strike with seemingly all the force she could muster.

Before her fist could descend to its target, needle like icicles flew past Mira, grazing her cheek and shoulders as she jumped backwards to safety. Only to be faced with countless more incoming darts. She shifted to the left, and to her surprise more darts were shot at her, from below no less. An interesting observation; the darts all grazed her. None came at her with the intention to impale her.

Juvia wasted no time standing back up, albeit coughing violently at finally receiving proper air through her lungs. She kept her right palm over her chest as her left swift upwards, bringing with it the water from within the plants, freezing, and forming the frozen darts she'd been avoiding. But then, as she took a look around her, Mira soon came to realize she'd been surrounded by these ice darts, the water taken from the fields around her, frozen and sharpened, and all aimed at her.

'Hmph. Clever girl.' And with that, Juvia felt proud. Not just in managing to subdue this mage, but with her abilities as well. Though, what came next caught her completely off guard.

"Lemme guess, you're with the dragon?" Her head cocked to the side for a moment before tilting back. "So that means..." Another wave of aura pulsed, destroying the ice shards, and sending the water mage tumbling backwards again. Juvia's head darted up; her eyes were met with the yet again close up mage. Her fist already raised, and Juvia's heart pounding with each passing second. "I hurt you; he comes to me." This time, with fatigue from her use of magic settling in, she felt herself unable to move without the ever growing sore and stinging pain from her muscles. She had used too much of her magic at once, and as the adrenaline died down, Juvia began to feel the effects.

And then it came. The blow, it wasn't as strong as she expected, but it hurt. There was no use of magic in her strikes, it was all purely physical. Painful, unending blows with Juvia only able to stave off one or two before Mira delivered one final strike. After which, the white haired mage kept her foot on the nearly exhausted water mage as she glanced around. When she failed to see her quarry, her expression soured. "Damn, guess I gotta-" A chill crawled up her spine as she heard a faint growl behind her. With widened eyes, she turned her head, finding herself mere inches away from jagged teeth, and an angered dragon.

With a swipe of his tail, the white haired mage was sent flying into a shrub nearby, allowing Juvia to breathe with the pressure on her chest alleviated. The water mage coughed violently as she felt the dragon's fire on her. She gazed downwards, and saw white fire engulfing her body. But, it was not painful, rather, it eased her. The pain she felt, the fatigue, seemingly washed away. Ironically.

Once she gathered her bearings she attempted to rise up, only to find the red giant towering over her. As she attempted to stand, she felt his tail push her down. "No." Was his only response.

"But..." she tried arguing with him, to no avail. Merely being this close was frightening enough, but to have those pair of saurian eyes glaring down at her; she wouldn't win against him regardless.

"You can't beat her."

"Yes I can!" She argued, still with some ideas and tricks up her sleeve. "I can still fight!"

"Juvia!" His booming voice brought a faint yelp from the water mage. His booming voice caused her to flinch. "Your magic reserves are too low. As for her, look closely." Sparing a glance towards the white haired mage, Juvia noticed what he'd meant. Even with all her little tricks, and Natsu's tail swing, Mira was still able to continue, whereas Juvia was just about ready to tap out. "Rest now, I'll take it from here." Natsu took only a few steps forward, with Mira only hesitating for a moment.

"I ain't afraid of you, Salamander." Oh how she would take back those words not too soon after. Without giving her a chance to respond, Natsu's tail caught hold of her leg and began thrashing her body against the ground. Repeatedly, and seemingly unending for a while before Natsu brought the takeover mage up to eye level. Her magic levels were still pretty high, but the constant pounding left her with a great deal of pain ringing throughout her body. The overgrown lizard snarled at this younger version of the barmaid he once knew. Yes, this was a different world all on its own, but he still found it difficult to take in.

"Insults..." he began. "I care little for; it takes more than words to belittle me. Someone who stands up to me, I will admit, is admirable. Folks rarely stand against a dragon willingly, let alone a child. But..." his tone shifted, smoke and ambers sparked from his opened jaw. "To lure me out, you would bring harm to my daughter. That is something I will not stand for." He brought her closer, Mira's breath hitched at the overwhelming heat. "Nor forgive." The increasing hostile aura emitting from dragon was beginning to suffocate the girl, she'd tried to break free, but fatigue had caught up to her. Not to mention, she couldn't exactly pull off an escape plan without the dragon catching her a second later. "But lucky for you I'm in a very, very, VERY forgiving mood right now, so why don't we call this match a draw, eh? After all, I think your siblings in Acre would be worried sick, devastated if you didn't return from hunting me. Wouldn't you agree?" She flinched, her breath hitched as an ever growing fear for her sibling's lives was now brought to reality. She had hoped to hide them from the dragon long enough for her to get answers from it. However, from what she'd heard, it appears as though the creature knew where they were. It noticed her conflicting expressions and responded. "Did you think I wouldn't keep tabs on people searching for me? Lesson one, when asking around, especially for a DRAGON, subtlety is your best bet to keep trouble away." Natsu commented before placing Mira down and as well blowing white flames on her. She'd seen what the flames did to the water mage so she wasn't as put off by it, but she was still wary of being healed by a dragon. In fact, this whole ordeal was annoying her to a great degree. Books and scrolls have claimed dragons to be inherently power hungry, greedy, prideful, and overall handing a great deal of hatred towards humans. And yet, here was one that hovered over the water mage protectively whilst calling her his daughter. And here he was, even after defeating his hatchling, acting as some form of teacher.

"Well, this wasn't what I had planned, and now we'll have to vacate the area." Natsu murmured. When the two mages glanced to him, both equally confused, his head gestured to a small company of boats, each with the Magic Council's insignia on them brought out an annoyed groan from the Dragneel patriarch. "The council is relentless. And my temper is tested enough as it is, I don't need for them to have another reason to despise me…more than they already do." The Dragon walked over to the campsite, revealing it to have been cleaned thoroughly and any presence lightly scorched so to keep the council lingering in the area with the false idea of there being something on the island of use to the dragon. It surprised Natsu how often this worked, normally one would've wised up and realized it was nothing more than a diversion. And yet, they still chose to comb the area. Whatever the case, Natsu gently lifted Juvia onto his neck. Funny enough, Mira was still being held by his leg as he quickly hoisted her on his back as well. "Hold on you two. We make for Acre." He warned as mere seconds later he had thrusted into the air, disappearing into the clouds whilst unleashing a mighty roar, echoing in the forests, a tease to the failed Council's attempt…again.

 **I'm not dead, but I am extremely sorry for this long hiatus. Im going to level with you, I lost interest in this story for a while, at times I had thoughts of simply discontinuing it, but ive recently gotten a rush of ideas that has overcome my writer's block. And so, updates are back. keep in mind I've other stories in progress as well so I'll be working on these stories as much as I can, but I won't take as long as I did with this one. Thank you to those who are still with this story.**

 **Now, I know I said this was to be the last chapter in the past, but after writing this latest chapter, I decided to stick around for a bit longer. More for plot and character development. More so for Juvia and Mira in these next few.**


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